


Beyond the Waiting Room

by sweetrosei



Series: Beyond (HanaAka) [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Asexual Akashi, Asexual Character, Developing Relationship, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Mibuchi, Romance, Slow Build, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 40,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4750229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetrosei/pseuds/sweetrosei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akashi Seijuro and Hanamiya Makoto met in their therapists' waiting room. This is the story of how they went from strangers, to friends, to lovers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seijuro I

Seijuro tried to contain his nerves as he sat in the waiting room. In his panic about not being late, he’d ended up being too early and had nothing to do as he waited. He’d already read all the posters and leaflets that interested him, so now he was stuck looking at his phone or at the walls as he tried to keep his mind off his anxiety.

His father had recently relented and allowed him to go for therapy once a week, and he was waiting for his first session today. Since the winter cup, Seijuro’s mental health had steadily gotten worse. While his ‘original’ self was back in control, as his friends put it, no one realised how bad things still were for him. He could still hear and speak to his other self and he’d developed several co-morbid illnesses too. His anxiety had skyrocketed and his coping methods weren’t enough to handle it. He soon started having panic attacks and had developed several obsessive-compulsive symptoms. On top of that, he was struggling with depression. Combined, he was barely making it through each day without feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope.

Being Akashi Seijuro meant that he couldn’t let any of this show though, and he hid it very well. His father hadn’t believed things were as bad as he said when he’d asked for therapy and had refused. His father had only relented and looked into finding a therapist after Seijuro had had a panic attack in front of him and his father hadn’t known how to handle it. Then it had finally hit home that Seijuro really did need help and better support. Seijuro hated that he had been so ‘weak’, as he saw it, in front of his father but was thankful that he would finally be getting the help he needed. However, sitting in the waiting room alone was only making him more anxious. He had no idea what to expect from his first meeting and he wasn’t sure if he thought it was better or worse that he was currently alone in the room.

Seijuro sat up straighter, more alert, when he heard footsteps coming his way. They were soft thumps, so he didn’t think they were formal shoes, in which case he thought it might be another person like him: someone else here for therapy. He tried not to look startled as the person rounded the corner, but his nerves and the surprising recognition he felt lessened his usual control over his features. He recognised long black hair just above the shoulder, grey-brown eyes, and body language that told of a bad boy attitude.

Seijuro stared back as one thick black eyebrow arched. “I know you. I saw you at the Winter Cup.” Makoto spoke, flopping into a seat on the opposite side of the room to Seijuro and spreading out confidently. He was the total opposite to Seijuro, who had unconsciously been trying to make himself take up as little space as possible in the midst of his disquiet.

“Yes. I believe I saw you too.” Seijuro replied. He had heard about Makoto from Kuroko and the others. Mostly he had heard about what Makoto’s team had done to Kiyoshi. He didn’t think this situation was going to help his nerves. They exchanged names and fell silent for a moment before Makoto spoke again.

“So, what’re you in for?” Makoto asked, sending alarm bells ringing through Seijuro.

“I didn’t think you were supposed to ask that sort of thing.” He replied, trying to keep his features calm. He wasn’t about to open up to a stranger, especially one who he’d heard nothing but bad things about.

Makoto looked around pointedly. “Who’s going to stop me?”

“I’d rather not answer the original question.” He replied, being honest and polite despite the other’s rudeness.

Makoto shrugged. “Alright.”

“What brings you here?” Seijuro found himself asking. He knew it was rude, but Makoto’s attitude had put him on the defensive and he was curious about what he would do when faced with his own question.

“I’m here because I’m an asshole and they think they can fix me.” Makoto answered bluntly, not looking the least bit bothered by his own words.

Seijuro didn’t let his surprise register on his face. He’d heard his friends call Makoto much worse than an asshole but he hadn’t expected Makoto to call himself that. Seijuro wasn’t sure what to think of that. Although he was hesitant about this whole interaction, Seijuro reminded himself to try not to judge Makoto too harshly, especially since he was apparently trying to get help, even if he didn’t sound like he cared much for it.

“I haven’t seen you here before. New appointment time or first session?” Makoto asked, leaning forward and looking genuinely interested for the first time.

“First appointment.” Seijuro admitted. He wasn’t sure why he was continuing this conversation when he was sure he could find a way to politely end it if he wanted to. He put it down to the conversation being a distraction from his nerves.

Makoto simply nodded. From what he had heard about the other, Seijuro was expecting much worse responses but so far Makoto had been a little rude but not cruel.

“Every time I see someone new come in they look like nervous wrecks. It’s ridiculous. These guys are paid to listen to us talk shit for a while and then keep it a secret. What’s the point of being nervous about that?”

“Not everyone is comfortable talking about personal matters to strangers.” Seijuro replied.

“But that’s the whole point of this. It isn’t going to work if you don’t talk about it. So you might as well just go all for it. If you want to fix whatever’s fucking you up then you’ve got to commit. _Duh_. ” Makoto responded before adding. “Plus, I’ve seen three different therapists here and all of them have been annoyingly supportive. You seem like the type who would like that.”

Seijuro frowned. At first he’d assumed Makoto was mocking him for looking nervous, but he now he wondered if maybe Makoto was trying to get him to relax in a roundabout way. Was that possible? It certainly went against everything he’d been told by his friends. Maybe he was reading too much into it. Then again, Makoto was apparently in therapy to stop him being an ‘asshole’ as he’d put it, so maybe it was working? Seijuro decided to keep the conversation going either way.

“How come you’ve seen three different people? What was wrong with the first two?” he asked, curious. It seemed like Makoto wasn’t shy about his experiences so hopefully wouldn’t be offended by the question.

“Nothing. The first was just to get an idea of my issues and then they passed me onto a specialist in my ‘area’. I saw the third when my doctor was ill.”

Seijuro nodded. That didn’t sound too bad, but it also suggested that he might not be seeing the person he saw today for the rest of his appointments. That meant he might have to explain things more than once...

Seijuro was about to ask more about how the sessions worked when one of the doctor’s doors opened. “Akashi-san?” A short woman asked, looking at Seijuro. He nodded and got up, feeling sick as a spike of anxiety rushed through him.

He followed her into the room without saying goodbye to Makoto. He hadn’t done it to be intentionally rude but he’d been so overcome by the sudden burst of anxiety that he’d forgotten his manners. Makoto hadn’t said anything as Seijuro left.

~

The session went well. Seijuro was nervous and gave short answers to her questions at first, but eventually he started getting more comfortable and giving more detail without being prompted. The doctor had been very warm and professional throughout the whole session and had really helped him relax. At the end of their timeslot she told him they would be in contact soon with details about who he would be seeing for the rest of the sessions.

Seijuro left the room feeling relieved that he’d finally taken the first step towards getting better but also a little sick that he’d talked about everything with a stranger. He wasn’t good at opening up to people, especially about something so deeply private. He tried to push the worries out of his mind as he walked through the building towards the exit. He kept a look out as he walked, in case he saw Makoto again. It was unlikely that he’d still be around, but it wouldn’t hurt to look. He wanted to apologise for leaving so rudely but he didn’t know if he’d ever see the other again. There was no sign of him by the time Seijuro got into the car waiting for him. There wasn’t much he could do if he didn’t bump into the other again, so he was forced to forget about it for now. As the car started moving, he tried to relax. Today had been full of anxiety and surprises, and he couldn’t wait to get home and curl up with a book by the window.


	2. Makoto I

“Mhm, next week.” Makoto stood, barely paying attention as they went through their usual end-of-session confirmation of their next meeting. His therapist opened his door to see out Makoto out, as always. They had a routine. Apparently it was supposed to be calming, but Makoto just found it boring. He didn’t see why he had to be shown out of the office every time. It wasn’t like he wanted to stay longer or didn’t know where the door was. He could be trusted to open a door himself.

Makoto walked past his doctor, who was holding the door for him, preparing himself to get pissed off by the crowds on his journey home. His preparation was put on hold though as he spotted bright red hair in the waiting room.

“Oh hey. You’re still here.” Makoto said, ignoring the doctor behind him and walking over towards Seijuro. He flopped into the seat opposite Seijuro again and didn’t notice his doctor watching him before he slowly shut his door. “You didn’t run away then.”

Makoto concealed his amusement at Seijuro’s frown. “Why would I run away?” Seijuro asked, looking a little confused.

“Because you looked like you were about to shit yourself in fear last time.” Makoto replied with a smirk and was rewarded with a brief look of surprise from Seijuro. It was always fun to get a reaction out of the prim and proper stoic types.

“I did not.” Seijuro replied, having now calmed his features and voice.

“You really did.” Makoto didn’t bother hiding his amusement this time. “So it wasn’t that bad then? Like I said?” Makoto asked, referring to the session.

“No. It was helpful.” Seijuro replied. “Thank you for the kind advice.” He added, his face hiding any emotion.  

Kind? Makoto wondered how seriously Seijuro meant that. “I just didn’t want you throwing up or crying while you waited or something. You weren’t the only one who had to sit in that room.” Makoto replied with a shrug. A small smile appeared on Seijuro’s face, making Makoto narrow his eyes slightly. What was he smiling about?

“Of course. And should I assume it’s the same situation now? I don’t feel particularly nauseous but I suppose you can’t be too careful.” Seijuro replied, his voice holding a hint of playfulness.

So, he was playing along, huh? It seems he wasn’t completely predictable and boring then. Makoto laughed and sat back in his chair, spreading out again. His laugh was loud and harsh and full of confidence. He had nowhere else to be, so he might as well keep this going a bit longer. “Who are you seeing?”

“Dr Matsumoto.” Seijuro replied.

Makoto nodded. “The tall one right? Glasses? She good?” He’d seen her before. She was a tall middle-aged woman with thick rimmed glasses and was the type to talk in one of those infuriating ‘soft and calm’ voices that were supposed to make people feel safer but just made Makoto want to punch them. During his initial assessment, he had specifically asked for someone who would talk bluntly with him. Dr Ueda, who Makoto ended up with, was fairly straight forward, but he still had some practices that annoyed Makoto. He had to take what he could get though. At least his doctor didn’t sugar-coat anything.  

Seijuro nodded in response. “Yes. I’m satisfied.”

Makoto nodded and the conversation fell into a lull. There wasn’t much he could do with that short reply. The other looked like he wanted to say something more though, so Makoto hung around a little longer. If it didn’t get interesting in a couple of minutes, he’d leave. “Did you change your appointment time?” Seijuro finally asked.

“Yeah. Some things came up so I had to change it.” He’d started a part time job and his appointment had had to move as a result. “Is this your regular time?”

Seijuro nodded. “Yes.”

‘ _Wow,_ such _a thrilling conversation…_ ’ Makoto thought, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. There had to be a way to make this more entertaining. He was thinking up a new way to screw with Seijuro when Dr Matsumoto’s door opened.

“Looks like we’re out of time.” Makoto replied, standing up, ready to leave. There was only a few minutes of time between appointments, so he would have to mess with Seijuro next time instead. “I guess I’ll see you next week; this is my new regular time.”

Seijuro nodded and replied politely. “It was nice speaking with you again.”

“Mhm, see ya.” Makoto was already walking towards the exit, leaving Seijuro to go in for his appointment.

~

Makoto was in therapy to deal with his violent behaviour. He knew it wasn’t ‘normal’ to enjoy hurting people against their will, but he didn’t care what was normal. Nothing about his childhood or himself was normal, as far as he was aware. He didn’t care about trying to make himself more normal either.

He’d only agreed to therapy after his mother had found out about his behaviour on the court. There was only one person in his life that he truly cared about and that was his mother. So, when she asked him to promise to get help, that’s what he did.

Whether or not to actually let it change his behaviour, he wasn’t sure yet. At first he hadn’t taken it seriously at all. He planned to pretend it had changed him, so his mother didn’t worry, but continue acting as usual when she wasn’t around. However, he’d ended up talking about a lot more deeply personal things with his doctor than he’d originally intended and somehow it made him feel a little better. Makoto tried to ignore the idea that maybe it was helping, but at the same time he continued talking about personal things with his doctor.

When Makoto had spotted Seijuro in the waiting room, he thought he’d found a new target to mess with. It didn’t turn out that way though. Since they met every week now, thanks to their appointment times, they’d ended up talking often. In their next conversation, Seijuro apologised for leaving rudely the day of their first meeting – an apology that Makoto thought was ridiculous and unnecessary – and Makoto explained about his new job. The job was to pay for the therapy. They could just about afford it for a while with his mother’s income and savings, as long as they were very careful, but he didn’t like using so much of her money for this so he wanted to pay towards it himself. He didn’t tell Seijuro all of that, of course. He told him it was his problem so it should be his money to fix it. Seijuro had complimented him on being very responsible and blah _blah_. Makoto got annoyed and provoked Seijuro into feeling guilty about being born rich before changing the topic. Their brief weekly meetings continued like that – casual conversation with the occasional insulting or sarcastic comment and sudden change of direction thrown in - until things started turning weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for the encouraging comments!


	3. Seijuro II

They met every week after that. It was only for a few minutes, but it was enough for them to start getting to know each other. They tended to have light conversations, but Makoto had a way of turning everything into something he could use to tease Seijuro. Seijuro had learnt that Makoto didn’t necessarily mean every insult he flung his way though, and sometimes he hid little acts of kindness behind mocking and feigned disinterest.

Three months after their first meeting, their friendship took on a confusing and unexpected edge. Seijuro wasn’t sure what had changed exactly, but for the last few conversations there had been a strange energy between them. Seijuro had already come to terms with the fact that he was somehow drawn to the other and that was why they got along so well. He thought it was because they had some similarities besides attending therapy, and he’d put it down to the same kind of feeling he’d felt when he’d been drawn to his other friends. However, lately he had been calling that into question again.

The more they talked, the more they’d messed with each other and bickered playfully. Seijuro had grown more confident in their conversations and had started bringing out his wit more and even developed a taste for sarcasm. Sometimes when Seijuro said something particularly harsh, Makoto looked proud. He wondered if Makoto was trying to corrupt him, but he always pulled his innocent act when accused of it.

As they got more into their playful fights, the energy between them grew. Eventually, Makoto started making sexual jokes and comments and that’s when Seijuro realised what had changed. Their growing friendship had taken on a flirtatious edge.

Seijuro wasn’t sure what to think of it. He only spoke to Makoto for a few minutes each week – was that really enough to have developed a romantic interest in him? Seijuro didn’t often think about romance or have much experience with it, so he didn’t know what he thought or felt. He couldn’t tell if Makoto was serious behind the playfulness, or if it was just to mess with him either. He needed to meet Makoto outside of the waiting room so he could understand things more, but how did he go about asking for that without being mocked?

Seijuro was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a door open and a familiar voice. He was in the waiting room again and Makoto’s session had just finished.

“Afternoon.” Makoto said as he spotted Seijuro. “Apparently my Doctor is over the moon that I’ve been staying behind to chat with you. Thinks I’ve made a new friend~” Makoto put on a fake cutesy voice as he finished speaking and rolled his eyes as he flopped into his usual chair.

“You told him about me?” Seijuro asked, watching him and feeling a weird flutter in his stomach. Anxiety or excitement? He didn’t know.

“Well he does see me out of his office every time. He’s noticed me walk to you and not the door.” Makoto spoke like Seijuro was deliberately missing the obvious. “It’s not like I brought you up.”

“I see.” Seijuro replied. He fought back the urge to say the something teasing about him being important enough to talk about in therapy.  Now wasn’t time for one of their usual play fights. He had decided on his plan of action – meeting Makoto outside of the waiting room – and he wasn’t going to back down. Seijuro bucked up the courage to say what he needed to, although he added a teasing tone to make it feel more like their usual conversations. “If I’m your new friend then perhaps we ought to meet outside of this waiting room.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? You actually want to be my friend?” The voice was slightly teasing, but nowhere near as much as Seijuro had expected. Perhaps Makoto was just as interested in the idea.

“I don’t find your company unbearable.” Seijuro replied, keeping a straight face and losing any teasing hint in his voice.

“Oh, well, if you’re _that_ eager to be seen with me then whatever.” Makoto replied, giving a very vague answer and pretending to look insulted.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Seijuro asked. He generally understood Makoto better than before, but sometimes it was still impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Makoto watched him for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face. Was he suspicious? Angry? Worried?

“Give me your phone.” Makoto finally spoke, holding his hand out for it and sounding impatient.

Seijuro handed it over, looking a little cautious. He didn’t completely trust Makoto not to do something weird with it. It was the kind of thing that could easily be abused to make Seijuro flustered.

He watched as Makoto typed on it for a minute before handing it back and standing up. “See ya.”

Seijuro watched in confusion and mild alarm as Makoto walked away. He wasn’t staying for their usual chat? Seijuro looked down at his phone and pressed the middle button to light the screen up again. Seijuro’s phonebook was open on a new entry: Hanamiya Makoto.

~ * ~

Butterflies danced in Seijuro’s stomach as he looked at the screen. Makoto had given him his number. That meant it was in his hands to take things further. He knew all he had to do was send a few friendly texts and then ask to hang out sometime. That’s what friends did. However, his nerves were way more than that. Seijuro cursed in his mind at how strongly this had affected him. There was no way he could have developed a crush on Makoto. Not only had he probably only talked to the guy for a matter of a few hours in total, but he had a bad reputation with Seijuro’s other friends thanks to Makoto’s basketball “tactics”. Seijuro frowned, he really did need to bring that up at some point if they did become friends.

That evening, Seijuro sat in his room trying to focus on reading, but instead found himself frequently looking at his phone. Would it be weird to text now? Is it too soon? Does it matter? It’s not like he was asking Makoto on a date... he just wanted to see him. Seijuro cringed. He was so flustered about just asking someone to meet up so _maybe_ they could become friends. It was a situation he never imagined he’d be in. He usually did so well with people. Then again, that was before his mental health had declined so sharply. It also didn’t help that his charm didn’t work on Makoto. Whenever he said something that would usually have boys and girls adoring him, Makoto just laughed at him instead. Maybe that was why he was so drawn to him. No one else acted the same way around him. Aomine was the only person to be a bit of a dick to him but even that wasn’t the same and it only frustrated Seijuro. With Makoto, Seijuro enjoyed it.

Seijuro groaned and put his book down as he realised how that sounded. He desperately hoped he hadn’t become some kind of masochist. It was obvious that Makoto was a sadist but Seijuro really didn’t need to become the M to his S.

Shaking his head, Seijuro grabbed his phone and opened a new message. He needed to suck it up and do it. Then he’d stop being nervous. His therapist had pointed out that no matter how much he worried about something new, he couldn’t really know what would happen until he tried it. So, he was going to go for it.

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya_

Seijuro stared at the name. Was it too forward to assume he could just use his family name here? Should he add an honorific on the end? Makoto had already called him Akashi a few times and Seijuro had called him Hanamiya in return, although that was usually when he was responding heatedly to a particularly provoking tease. It wasn’t as if they were ever very formal with each other though. He decided to keep it as it was.

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya. It’s Akashi_.

There. That was a fine start. Now he just had to think of some way to ask him to meet up without giving him ammo to attack him with. Basketball seemed a good choice, although he was aware that it came with the risk of injury. He was hoping Makoto wouldn’t do that in a one-on-one, but then again, he wasn’t exactly predictable.

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya. It’s Akashi. Would you like to have a one-on-one this weekend?_

Akashi hit send and put his phone to the side. There, it was done. Now he could relax… or wait nervously for the reply. He continued trying to read his book until 10 minutes later when his phone beeped.

> Makoto: _What kind of 1-on-1 are we talking here? I knew you were into balls but I thought it was just the rubber kind_

Akashi’s eyes widened. _Shit_. He’d been thinking too innocently and walked right into that one. He should have expected that from Makoto. Seijuro’s heart sped up and he tried to not to rise to the provocation and think of a less embarrassing reply. He was _not_ going to get flustered and lose the fight already.

> Seijuro: _Basketball. My family home has a private court._

Akashi sent back, thinking he was safe.

> Makoto: _Is this “private court” your bed? Are you courting me?_

Akashi groaned, both at his failure to avoid teasing and at the puns. Was Makoto doing this on purpose? Seijuro rolled his eyes – a habit he’d unconsciously picked up from Makoto. _Of course_ Makoto was teasing him on purpose, but was it meant to be flirting or just messing with him?

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya Makoto. Would you like to come to my family home this weekend to play a one-one-one game of basketball on my private basketball court, fully clothed and with minimal physical contact?_

Akashi sent back, trying to sound forceful and escape further mocking. He knew Makoto would read it in a frustrated tone but would probably know that Seijuro wasn’t genuinely angry. He found their interactions entertaining, once he’d gotten over his embarrassment and frustration.

> Makoto: _I’m sure you know my basketball can get pretty physical_

Seijuro felt another bloom of nerves as he knew what Makoto was referring to. Would he really use those tactics against him in a one-on-one? Seijuro hesitated over his reply. He wasn’t really sure what to say to that. He’d been hoping to avoid discussing Makoto’s tactics until they’d grown closer. He didn’t approve at all of his tactics, but he couldn’t just bring it up suddenly. He was fairly confident that Makoto wouldn’t react well to it and their friendship was still fragile. Plus, he didn’t know how much of it was discussed in therapy and he didn’t want to create any problems with that. It need a subtler and slower approach, and they need to be closer first.

Apparently Seijuro took too long hesitating as another text came through. He realised he’d been staring at his phone for 15 minutes.

> Makoto: _What time should I arrive and what’s your address?_

Seijuro smiled. Makoto wanted to come, and apparently was so keen he couldn’t wait for Seijuro to reply. That, or he suspected that he’d said something wrong. Sometimes Makoto did step a little over Seijuro’s line and Seijuro went silent. Makoto usually changed the subject or his approach to it when that happened. Perhaps he was trying the same thing here. Seijuro text back a time, 1pm on Saturday, and his address.

> Makoto: _See you then_

Makoto’s last reply was short but enough. It was Wednesday evening now, so it wasn’t too long to wait until they saw each other in person again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism/tips are always welcome.


	4. Seijuro III

After their first texting session, the rest of the week passed fairly easily. Since it was holiday time, Seijuro didn’t have school. All he had was homework and therapy. The rest was free time. He talked with the miracles in group chats online but neglected to mention his plans with Makoto. He hadn’t even told them about his therapy, let alone befriending someone they didn’t like. After Kuroko had explained the full story of what had happened with Kiyoshi to the group, and some added in what they’d seen too, it was pretty clear that the group didn’t like Makoto and he couldn’t really blame them for it. He wasn’t sure how they’d react if they found out he was becoming friends with him. He couldn’t imagine it going well, especially with Kuroko and if they asked what they talked about. Insulting each other for fun probably wouldn’t look good in their eyes when it involved someone that intentionally injured one of the group’s friends and threatened others. He didn’t think they’d believe that he was changing and he certainly couldn’t tell them Makoto was in therapy.

When Saturday rolled around, Seijuro found himself oddly nervous. He even spent extra time on his appearance, which felt especially unnecessary since he’d just be changing for basketball soon enough and getting sweaty anyway. He couldn’t resist though, as he checked again that his hair was exactly how he wanted it.

When Makoto arrived, Seijuro had arranged himself in the library with a book, trying his best to look like his normal self while not giving Makoto anything to target. He couldn’t act too much like he was avoiding giving him ammo though, as that was just as likely to be turned into ammo. Makoto was highly intelligent and would pick up on the smallest things.

“You are such a fucking snob.”

Seijuro put his book down and couldn’t hold back his smile at the words. Typical Makoto – the first thing he says to him in his home is an insult. The maid that had let him into the room looked scandalised. Seijuro thanked her for showing him in and watched as she hurried away.

“Don’t scare the maids. They’re good people and don’t deserve your attitude” Seijuro replied.

Makoto looked unamused. “Oh, how terrible of me. You’re not a fucking snob at all. I’ll just go apologise to your _maids_ after I leave your _giant library_ and walk past all the _expensive art_ outside.” Makoto raised an eyebrow and gave him a challenging look.  

Seijuro laughed softly. “I didn’t say I wasn’t a snob. I simply asked you not to scare the maids.” He knew it would just get teased but he couldn’t help adding. “My father bought all the art, although I do appreciate it.”

“Well of course he did. It’s all about daddy’s money, right?” Makoto walked over, flopping down in his usual manner onto one of the comfortable library armchairs.

“Was your journey here okay?” Seijuro asked. The comment about his father made him uncomfortable, so he changed the topic.

“Fine. Got weird looks from the taxi driver. I’m guessing I don’t look like your regular guests?”

Seijuro looked at Makoto’s ripped jeans and hoodie. He didn’t look all that different from Aomine, but Aomine rarely came here. “I suppose not. It’s no matter though. You’re still a guest. Would you like anything to eat or drink?”

“Nah.” Makoto replied, looking around the library. “Wouldn’t want to terrify one of your maids again. I assume you’re not planning to get it yourself?”

Seijuro smiled. He did do a lot of things himself, but he would have instinctively asked a maid to get food or drink for a guest. “Let’s go to the court then.” Seijuro stood up, waiting for Makoto to join him so he could lead the way.

Makoto followed him, and spoke up after a moment. “Are we going to the basketball court or your bed shaped ‘private court’?”

Seijuro visibly cringed at the words but held in his groan as Makoto started laughing. “Please don’t say things like that where the maids can hear. They might not understand that you’re joking and I can’t afford a scandal.”

“Oh, so you don’t often call guys over to fuck then?”

Seijuro’s eyes widened with alarm. “Hanamiya!” His exclamation came out hushed through gritted teeth as he span around to face him. For some reason, Makoto’s question had made him acutely uncomfortable.

Makoto just laughed more but held up his hands in a placating manner. “Alright, alright, I’ll be more subtle.”

Seijuro shook his head and continued walking. “Alternatively, instead of being more subtle, you could not say it at all.” He stopped in front of a door. “A bathroom. You can change here now and shower after the game.”

Makoto opened the door and looked inside with a whistle. “Rich brat.” He shut the door behind him, presumably to start changing. 

Seijuro went to another nearby bathroom to change as well then grab some drinks. He came back in time to see Makoto coming out. Their outfits were opposites and made both of them pause for a few seconds. Seijuro was in all white with silver trimming and Makoto was all in black and dark grey. Neither was surprised by their colour choices. Makoto had commented once before that the light Rakuzan colours fit Seijuro’s honest ‘innocent’ outlook on life, whereas Kirisaki Daiichi’s was dark and earthy. This was no different.

They headed out to the court, Makoto being strangely quiet until they reached their destination.

“Does this count as somewhere the maids can’t hear?” Makoto asked.

Seijuro looked around, dreading whatever Makoto had planned. “Potentially, but you never know who might be listening out here.”

“Well I’m not going to hold back on being me just because the bushes might be listening.”

Seijuro smiled. “Of course.” He didn’t mind so much about Makoto being rude, he just didn’t want any flirtatious or sexual things mentioned. Having a rude friend was fine but a romantic/sexual scandal was harder to handle. Thankfully, Makoto didn’t make jokes about drugs or alcohol so he didn’t have to worry about that.  

Seijuro grabbed a basketball from the store by the court and bounced it a few times before heading to the centre circle. He looked up as he realised Makoto was watching him.

“You’re not going to ask me to play fair with you?” There was a sharp tone to his voice, as if he was expecting to hear a reply he didn’t like. “I thought you’d be afraid of injury.”

Seijuro decided to go with honesty as he replied. “I was hoping you wouldn’t use your usual tactics on me here since it’s just for fun, but if you must then I suppose I will have to do the same in return.” Seijuro prepared to start the match but hesitated once again. “Perhaps we could keep it milder though. No serious injuries.”

Makoto rolled his eyes. “I’m hardly going to break your leg over a one-on-one that no one can see.” He stepped closer, ready to start. “Shut up and play me already.”

The game was a little rough. Makoto kept up his tricks but didn’t go beyond bruises and knocks. He was surprisingly gentle compared to the tournaments. Seijuro could handle bruises and managed to get a few of his own on Makoto in return. The score was in Seijuro’s favour but it wasn’t a large lead. This was partly due to Seijuro not using his emperor eye, and partly because Makoto had found ways to mess with Seijuro in the match and was making the most of them. Makoto had realised that Seijuro hesitated slightly when he got too close, and then there was a 50-50 chance of him either pushing Seijuro to the ground and scoring or getting an elbow to the gut and Seijuro scoring. He could also make the other just as flustered as usual with his teasing comments. Makoto was having a lot of fun with this information.

Seijuro cursed in his mind as he hesitated again when Makoto suddenly pressed up against him. He hated how much of an effect this was having on him. It didn’t help that he knew Makoto was doing it on purpose to make him flustered, which was even more frustrating.  

Seijuro span, trying to push Makoto out of his way and get by. Makoto managed to trap his foot and Seijuro tumbled. He grabbed the edge of Makoto’s shirt on his way down and hit the ground only to have a bigger weight land on him a second later.

Seijuro groaned. It hurt, but nothing serious. Makoto cursed before he started laughing.

“Fucker. How did you think grabbing me would help?” Makoto pushed himself up, holding himself over Seijuro.

“I was focused on stopping my face from hitting the floor, not on what I was grabbing.” Seijuro replied, sounding affronted and turning over onto his back.  

They both froze as they realised their position. Makoto had his knees either side of Seijuro’s hips and his hands either side of Seijuro’s head. Neither moved for what felt like several minutes before Makoto cursed again under his breath and pushed himself up into standing. He stretched a little as he faced away from Seijuro, but it felt more like he was avoiding the situation than he was looking after his muscles.

Seijuro stood and went to get the ball. “Do you want to continue?” he asked, unsure now. He didn’t mind continuing, but Makoto seemed to be a lot more affected by what had happened than him. Seijuro had started to accept the flirting as long as it didn’t lead to anything, but this was more tense than usual. If something did start between them, which he pretended was very much not an option, then it raised other concerns. Judging by Makoto’s reaction and tense posture, he wasn’t as calm about the situation.

“Quick break.” Makoto suggested, already heading to the bench. Seijuro followed him, bringing the ball with him.

Makoto drank from his bottle and they sat in silence for a few minutes, resting, before Makoto spoke again.

“How come you haven’t given me shit for playing dirty? You’re the high-and-mighty play-by-the-rules type. Feels like I should’ve had a lecture from you by now.”

Seijuro considered his answer, knowing this was a sensitive topic. “I don’t agree with your tactics. I didn’t see how bringing it up so soon would be beneficial though.”

“So you were planning to bring it up later?” Makoto looked bored, like he was disappointed with Seijuro’s reply and losing interest. Was he disappointed because Seijuro didn’t want to try to stop him right now, or disappointed because he wanted to try to stop him at some point?

“Perhaps. If it felt right.” Seijuro considered his next words. It had been something he’d been wondering about for a while. “I thought perhaps it might be something you were already working on in therapy.”

Makoto gave him a suspicious look. “You think I talk about my game tactics in therapy?”

“I thought you might talk about your… rough interests.” Seijuro tried to phrase it delicately, although it turned out that may have been a mistake.

“You mean how I like hurting people.” There was a dangerous tone to Makoto’s voice that wasn’t remotely playful. The topic had definitely put him on edge, but Seijuro wasn’t sure exactly why.

Seijuro nodded, feeling like he was about to light a fuse and have everything explode in his face.

Makoto stared at him for a long time, looking deadly serious and as if he was judging whether to hurt him or not. Eventually he looked away, up at the sky.

“What do you talk about in therapy?” Makoto asked.

Seijuro wasn’t sure if the change in topic was a relief or not. On the one hand, it was an opportunity to drop the topic by politely refusing to answer and talking about something else, but on the other, maybe if he did answer, he could find out more about Makoto.

“I have problems with anxiety, depression, and dissociation.” He answered, not taking his eyes off Makoto.

Makoto looked a little surprised, clearly not expecting an honest answer. He looked back at Seijuro, the dangerous aura gone. “What kind of dissociation?”

“Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m me. Or… more accurately there’s two of me and we switch places sometimes. The me at last year’s inter-high and winter cup was the other me. Although, I’m not supposed to think of it that way; they’re both me, after all.”

Makoto was now giving Seijuro 100% of his attention. “Does the other you have a different name? Like multiple personalities?” Makoto asked. There was no trace of teasing in his voice. He was taking this seriously. Seijuro ignored the warming in his chest at the idea that Makoto cared enough to treat this seriously.

“No. That’s a bit of an issue actually. Usually with dissociation disorders, in particular DID, there are very distinct personalities but I’m not like that. I’m still Akashi Seijuro, just… a different version. It’s hard to explain and I don’t really understand it myself but there is a difference.”

Makoto nodded. “So have I ever met the other you? Would I be able to tell the difference?”

“You haven’t. We don’t switch frequently. The…” Seijuro hesitated, wondering if it was okay to continue. He still found it a little distressing to talk about everything, but he’d already said so much that he might as well continue. “The other me was in charge for about two years. I only came back into control when we lost to Seirin.”

Makoto’s eyes widened when Seijuro had said two years. “Two years?? Holy shit. So, it was like someone else was in your body for a while? Or well, another you I guess.” Makoto cringed slightly, looking a little apologetic for his bad wording for the first time that Seijuro had seen.

“Yes. It was a bit like watching a film. I could see everything the other me was doing but had no control.”

“That must have been horrible. Is the therapy helping? Is it getting better?”

Seijuro considered his answer for a moment. “It’s not really helped with the dissociation yet, I can still feel and hear the other me there sometimes, the same as before I started. It’s helped somewhat with the other problems though.”

Makoto nodded, looking thoughtful. He looked back up at the sky, sounding a little dejected. “We’re really messed up, huh?”

Seijuro didn’t know what to say. He wanted to offer some support but he didn’t really know what Makoto needed help with. Should he gently try and ask?

“It’s like you said.” Makoto started, answering Seijuro’s unspoken question. “I’m in therapy because I like hurting people and I’m an asshole. I don’t really care about being an asshole; I don’t give a shit if people don’t like me. I know it’s not normal to like hurting people so much though, even if I only do it on the court. I’m only doing therapy because my mother heard me talking tactics on the phone and looked scared of me.” Makoto looked at Seijuro carefully, trying to gauge his reaction. “Afraid of me again?”

“No.” Seijuro replied immediately. Makoto had chosen to go to therapy because he didn’t like his mother being afraid of him? That didn’t sound like a scary person to him. “I think you’re doing a good thing, and I think it’s working.”

Makoto gave him a flat look. “I spend most of my time with you insulting you and have given you multiple bruises the first time I’ve come to your home.”

Seijuro smiled. “But I like it. You know I like our conversations and I didn’t tell you to stop during the match. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but whenever I get uncomfortable with something, you stop. And when we first met in the waiting room you gave me good advice. Granted, it was wrapped in an insult, but it was a kind act nonetheless.”

Makoto grimaced. “I’ll give you another bruise if you keep talking like that.”

“If you say so.” Seijuro replied with a smile, not bothered by the threat. He knew it wasn’t serious and Makoto was just trying to deflect the conversation. “But it sounds to me like it’s working. You’ve certainly become more sensitive with me, at least.”

Makoto looked disapproving of the word ‘sensitive’.

“There’s nothing wrong or embarrassing about being sensitive and showing you care sometimes” Seijuro continued, repeating some of what his own therapist had told him. “Especially with friends, and even if it’s just small acts. Like a moment ago, you were listening to me seriously and that was enough. I really appreciated that.”

Makoto frowned. “Well, of course I did. I’m not going to mock you for something like that.”

Seijuro smiled. “See. That’s showing some sensitivity and it’s good, right?”

Makoto rolled his eyes. “Whatever. If you say sensitive one more time I’m going to push you off this bench.”

Seijuro couldn’t help it. “Well that’s not very sensitive.” He laughed as his ass hit the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always very appreciated, I love hearing what readers think!


	5. Makoto II

The Friday after his visit to the Akashi household, Makoto went shopping. He’d spent most of the day thinking about therapy, why he was doing it, and what he expected to get out of it. Their conversation about his sessions and supposed improvement had gotten to him and he’d noticed himself zoning out to think about it all week. He found that everything seemed to come back to his mother. He was doing all of this for her and if it made her happy, then it was worth it. Makoto knew he was a mama’s boy but he didn’t care or find any shame in it. His mother was the only person he was never intentionally an asshole to. Some might consider her his weakness, but he didn’t see it like that. She was a single mother who had done the best she could to raise him and care for him alone and she was all he had. Nothing was going to stop him from doing the same for her and making sure she knew how much he appreciated her.

With his part-time job, therapy, basketball, and time spent with friends, Makoto hadn’t seen his mother as often as usual lately and he felt guilty. So, after school, he’d gone into town to find her a nice gift to try and make up for it. He ended up at another market in the crafts section, buying her a homemade candle with a rose design on it. She was delighted when he presented it to her, and they spent the rest of the afternoon together in the garden.

Makoto’s mother was very accepting, so he knew he probably could talk to her about his newly discovered confusing feelings regarding Seijuro if he wanted to, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She knew a lot more about this sort of thing than he did, but he felt he needed more time to understand it better himself before he said anything to anyone. He ended up staying quiet and thinking over his relationship and interactions with Seijuro more while he text him in his room after dinner.

The one-on-one at Seijuro’s house had been a lot of fun. His main worry beforehand had been that Seijuro would bring up his dirty tactics and he wasn’t ready to be berated about them by him. Makoto was already working on his violent issues in therapy, so he certainly didn’t need to be given shit for them by the only new person he’d started getting close to outside of his team. He knew there was no way Seijuro would approve of his methods and he didn’t want to have to talk about them. He thought it could only go badly and ruin their potential friendship.

In the end, Makoto had been the one to bring it up. He’d been on edge about it the whole time he’d been there and it was throwing him off. He’d decided it would be better to just face it head on and ask about it, than continue waiting to see if Seijuro would bring it up. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Seijuro’s reply. He was annoyed that he’d gotten worked up about nothing and that Seijuro hadn’t seemed bothered, but at the same time he was glad that Seijuro hadn’t given him trouble for it.  

The game had turned out a little rough but in a fun and friendly way. He had no desire to hurt Seijuro, but he really enjoyed making him flustered and frustrated. Makoto didn’t even care that he lost – he’d had much more fun messing with Seijuro than he had actually playing the game. It was unusual for him to enjoy a game of basketball so much without real violence and with someone not on his team. 

However, the main surprise of the match had been their fall. Thinking back on it, he thought he should’ve stood up sooner, but at the time he hadn’t realised their position until it was too late. It had sent a rush of warmth and adrenalin through him that had left him confused. He knew he’d been playfully flirting with Seijuro recently, but he’d thought it was just because Seijuro’s reactions were amusing and that it wasn’t serious. Now that he’d experienced that intense reaction though, he’d started rethinking all of their previous interactions. Perhaps his flirting had been more serious than he’d originally believed…

The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that how he felt about Seijuro was different to how he felt about his other friends, but whether it was romantic and he wanted to be with him that way or not, he didn’t know. Ideally, he wanted to work it out and do something about it before the inter-high. No doubt that was going to be awkward enough already, since it was going to be near impossible to gloss over the topic of Kirisaki Daiichi’s tactics there. Makoto didn’t want to add barely hidden tension and confusing feelings on top of that.

The problem was that Seijuro was far away in Kyoto. It was harder to work out how he felt when he could only see Seijuro through a webcam. While Makoto was a genius, this wasn’t something that intellect alone could help him understand. He’d tried to base his understanding on what he thought other people’s crushes were like, but that didn’t mean it was the same for him. From what he understood, dates and kisses were the way to tell if they wanted a relationship or not, but how the hell was he supposed to get one of those without risking fucking everything up? No matter what, he needed to see Seijuro face to face to work it out, but that wasn’t likely to happen until the inter-high and that was the least preferable option right now.

Makoto had also been thinking about their conversation on therapy a lot since the game. It had made him feel a lot closer to Seijuro, learning so much private information about him. He’d been completely serious when Seijuro had been talking about himself, but he hadn’t believed him when he said Makoto had improved. He’d dismissed it as Seijuro just trying to be nice. There was no way the therapy was changing him... The more he thought about it though, the more he wondered if maybe Seijuro was right. He really _had_ been a lot gentler with Seijuro than he would have been before. Plus, he was actually thinking about all of this stuff rather than brushing off like he used to. Something had definitely changed, whether it was an improvement or not.

In his next therapy session after the game, Makoto had finally opened up about his friendship with Seijuro ever so slightly. His doctor had been very happy to hear they were getting along well. Makoto didn’t tell him everything (he was not going to mention his confusing feelings for Seijuro or what Seijuro had said about his own health and therapy) but he talked about how he’d gone to Seijuro’s house, that they’d talked about therapy more, and that Seijuro had babbled about sensitivity. Makoto swore and looked uninterested through the whole thing but his doctor was used to that by now. Dr Ueda praised him for being so supportive of his friend and for being more open about himself. Makoto was still hesitant if this was good or bad. It seemed like it might make him weaker, even if others were praising him for it. Somehow, the thought of him getting ‘better’ made Makoto feel a little sick and nervous. He hadn’t meant for therapy to actually help when he’d started, and now he wasn’t sure what to think. Sure, he’d gotten a new friend out of it and his mother was happy. But did he really want to be changing? He still didn’t think there was anything _really_ wrong with who he was before, except for scaring his mother. So, did he really want to become someone different? The idea was incredibly stressful and frustrating. He wondered if he should bring that up in therapy, but he wasn’t confident about how honest the response would be. The other option was talking to Seijuro or his mother about it, but Seijuro had already said he liked the ‘improvements’ and Makoto didn’t want to burden his mother with the whole truth about his situation. He decided to think about it some more tomorrow, when he was less tired, and focus on the texts with Seijuro and his games for the rest of the evening.

After another hour or so of messaging, Makoto’s phone rang. He’d successfully wound Seijuro up about his height to the point that he was so outraged he had to call and give his response audibly.

“I’m not even that much shorter than you!” Seijuro replied, almost huffing. It was a satisfying, hilarious, and slightly adorable response, to which Makoto had responded with almost 5 minutes of non-stop laughter. It was nice, being able to be himself and relax while talking to Seijuro. He still didn’t really know how he felt and he still he needed to work it out at some point, but for now, Seijuro’s fake-grumpy voice on the other end of the line was just asking for more teasing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are highly appreciated! I've rewritten this chapter so many times.


	6. Seijuro IV

Things continued like that for months. Seijuro and Makoto met at the therapist’s office for a few minutes once a week and then either went to someone’s house for a day at the weekend or had a long phone call. It had become a nice routine – well, as nice as frequent insults and teasing could be. They’d even played a couple more one-on-ones, but those had stopped now that practice for the inter-high had become serious.

Seijuro sighed to himself after another skype chat came to an end and he and Makoto still hadn’t talked about the inter-high. He spoke about it with his other friends but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it with Makoto. He knew why he was avoiding it; Makoto might use his brutal tactics on him or his friends in order to win. It would put him in a difficult situation and he didn’t want their friendship to be ruined because Makoto injured someone Seijuro cared about. He needed to talk to him about it, but it wasn’t an easy topic to broach.

~ * ~

One week before the inter-high, Seijuro was back in Tokyo for the weekend at his father’s request, and he still hadn’t talked about Makoto’s tactics with him. He knew he couldn’t just sit by and say nothing and risk one of his friends getting injured, so he had no choice but to be brave and just do it. If there were consequences, then he would face them head on.

“Hanamiya? It’s Akashi.” He spoke into the phone after it clicked.

“What’s up?” Came Makoto’s voice from the other end.

“Can I come over?” He asked. This would be done better face to face.

“Uh, sure. You okay?” Makoto didn’t _sound_ concerned – he still wasn’t at the point of outright displaying sensitivity easily or often just yet - but the question was an improvement.

“Yes. I’d just like to see you.” Seijuro spoke before he could think through how that might sound.

“Fucking sap. Alright. Well, I’m in so come whenever.” Makoto hung up.

After quickly gathering his things together, Seijuro had his driver take him to the Hanamiya family home. Makoto’s mother greeted him at the door. Seijuro liked her, she was always kind and sweet to him. He could see why her being afraid of Makoto had had such an impact on him. Makoto had to care deeply for her.  

Seijuro headed up to Makoto’s room, already knowing where it was by now and that Makoto wouldn’t mind him barging in. He could hear music blasting from Makoto’s room and didn’t bother to knock before entering – it would have gone unheard anyway.

Makoto looked up when he saw movement in his periphery and picked up the remote to turn down the volume on the speakers. “Hey.”

Makoto’s room was fairly simple. He had a double bed with navy covers against one wall, a desk next to the bed, and a wardrobe and chest of drawers on the other side of the room. There were some other things scattered about, but there wasn’t much room for anything else big. Makoto was sat in the only chair in the room, at the desk, so Seijuro sat on the bed near him.

“You look like shit. What happened?” Makoto asked, spinning the chair around to face him. Their positions made them quite close, their knees almost touching.

Seijuro bit the bullet and got the point. There was no point in delaying this. “I need to talk to you about the inter-high.”

Makoto’s look darkened and turned defensive immediately. Seijuro already knew it was a highly sensitive topic for Makoto, and this was going to be very tense and uncomfortable for the both of them. However, Makoto didn’t say anything, so Seijuro continued. Makoto most likely already knew where he was going with this.

“I understand that you want to do everything you can to win b-“

“You want me to play fair against Rakuzan.” Makoto cut him off, sounding bored and angry. It reminded Seijuro of when the topic had come up during their first one-on-one. Similar to then, Makoto appeared disappointed and frustrated that Seijuro was asking him this.

“I want you to play fair against Rakuzan and my friends’ teams, if you play any.” Seijuro looked Makoto in the eyes as he spoke, accepting the hard gaze unflinchingly.

“ _And_ your friends.” Makoto repeated coldly.

“They’re important to me.” Seijuro kept his voice level.

“What about the other teams that your friends aren’t part of? You don’t care if I cripple them? That’s not very _fair_.”

Seijuro knew it was unfair to them and he felt guilty about that, but it was unrealistic to expect Makoto to play fairly against everyone right now. It wasn’t that Seijuro didn’t want to convince Makoto to play fairly all the time, he just knew Makoto hadn’t reached the point where he’d be open to doing that yet. He still didn’t know why Makoto played the way he did, so there was no way he could stop him completely. He had to pick his battles right now and work on the rest later.

“Just my team and my friends’ teams.” Seijuro repeated, not giving any extra explanation.

“What do I get in return?” Makoto asked, still appearing dangerous.

“What do you want in return?” Seijuro was willing to negotiate.

“Playing without the tactics we’ve practiced puts us at a disadvantage. We could lose because of this. I need a lot of compensation.”

Seijuro nodded. Makoto had a lot of other talents, but it was true that taking away a well practice part of their tactics could be disruptive. “I understand. I’m willing to hear your terms.”

Makoto stared at him as he thought it over. Seijuro wasn’t going to back down, but he also wanted to rid Makoto of that angry look as soon as possible. Their friendship had grown a lot and he hated knowing that he might be hurting his friend right now.

“I won’t stop the rest of the team doing what they want. I can’t ask them to put themselves at a disadvantage just because you’re soft.”

Seijuro nodded again. It wasn’t the best but at least if Makoto wasn’t giving them orders they might not be quite as dangerous. As far as he knew, Makoto was the mind behind the worst injuries they inflicted.

“Okay. So you won’t hurt my team or my friends’ teams and you won’t instruct others to do so, but they’re free to do as they wish otherwise?” Seijuro clarified the terms.

“Yes. And I want several things in return.” Makoto replied. Seijuro thought it was a little odd that he hadn’t just voiced his demands already but seemed to be hesitating slightly.

“Go ahead. I’m listening.” Seijuro encouraged.

Makoto visibly hesitated this time and looked a little nervous. Seijuro tried not to look surprised or acknowledge it in case he put Makoto off and the deal broke down.

“I want a kiss.” Makoto finally spoke, quietly. The words and the hard look Makoto was directing at him contradicted each other, but that was Makoto through and through. Softness was always wrapped in a harsh spikey exterior.

Seijuro’s eyes widened. “A… a k-“ Had he heard that right?

Makoto nodded. “A kiss. From you.” The more confident clarification left no room for misinterpretation. “Things have been weird between us for a while and I want to see what it is.”

Seijuro continued to look surprised but nodded. “I… yes. I know what you mean.”

“Then, I want a kiss. I know you’re gonna give me a load of shit about your reputation and scandals and crap so before you start: it’ll be in private and I won’t tell anyone about it.” Makoto rolled his eyes after he added the extra details.

Kiss Makoto? Seijuro unconsciously bit his lip as he considered it. He’d thought about it before, of course. How could he not have when he was so aware of their flirting? He didn’t think it might actually happen though. Not until now. Seijuro took a deep breath and let it out again, calming himself, before speaking.

“Okay. A kiss. Is there anything else?”

Makoto looked surprised – apparently he hadn’t thought that Seijuro would agree. “There’s… a market on the weekend after the inter-high finishes. Come with me.”

Seijuro frowned slightly in confusion. “A market?” That was a slightly strange request. He didn’t have to make a deal with him in order to get him to join him at a market.

“A date at the market.” Makoto clarified seriously, presumably noticing that Seijuro hadn’t made the connection. Sometimes Seijuro still thought of things too straightforwardly to realise what Makoto was talking about.

“I can’t-“

“Why not?” Makoto interrupted, getting defensive again.

“I can’t be seen in public on a date with a man.” Seijuro finished, his voice slightly forceful as he fought against Makoto’s interruption.

“It’s a _market_. Friends can go to markets together. It’s not like I’ll be shagging you against one of the stalls. No one will know.” Makoto was looking at Seijuro like he was being obtuse.

Seijuro hoped he didn’t look too flustered when Makoto said ‘shagging’. He’d gotten more used to Makoto’s harsh language – which Aomine had actually noticed first and commented on before Seijuro had realised, since he looked less disturbed lately when Aomine talked about his magazines and interests. He hadn’t, however, stopped getting flustered when he was the target of the flirtatious or sexual talk. Makoto enjoyed using it to tease him as much as he did his wide range of other ammo. It had increased in frequency lately though. Seijuro understood now that Makoto must have been exploring the tension between them.

Seijuro considered it for a few more minutes. Makoto had been surprised when he had agreed to the kiss, so clearly it wasn’t a deal breaker and Seijuro could have said no if he wasn’t okay with it. The same must apply here. Seijuro had the feeling Makoto was more interested in using the ‘deal’ as a cover to ask him out without having to look too vulnerable, rather than getting actual compensation for the partial loss of his tactics. Makoto was looking more and more frustrated as he waited for an answer.

“Alright. A kiss and a date. Anything else?” Seijuro asked.

Makoto looked a little surprised again and hesitated for a moment before his defence went back up. “One last thing.”

Seijuro sat up straighter to show he was listening.

Makoto continued with an irritated tone of voice, but his words conveyed his true feelings. “I want you to take the date seriously. Don’t just brush it off or avoid thinking about it because of your reputation or whatever. No one has to find out if you like it and I’m not going to throw a fit and stop talking to you if you don’t like it. Just take it seriously and be honest, okay?”

Seijuro could feel his features soften as Makoto spoke. As always, it was wrapped in a scary sounding tone, but Makoto was really being quite sweet. Seijuro nodded. “Of course. I promise.”

Makoto visibly relaxed. “Alright. Then, we have a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos are highly highly appreciated.  
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Makoto III

“That’s enough?” Seijuro asked, looking slightly surprised.

Makoto frowned. Why was Seijuro surprised? “I don’t know if you’re belittling yourself or thinking basketball’s more important than it is, but yes, that’s enough. You know I don’t really care about winning anyway. I just like hurting people and I’m not supposed to like that so...” He shrugged. “I will say this though; I won’t mention this deal to my team but if they work it out somehow or get frustrated and take it out people, that’s not my problem. I’ll stick to my part of the deal.”

“Understood.” Seijuro replied, before he looked down.

Watching Seijuro, Makoto thought over what had just happened. He had been so surprised that Seijuro had agreed to all of this; he honestly thought he was going to get shot down. He didn’t care about making a deal, not really. His therapist kept telling him he should try to decrease the amount of foul play he engaged in anyway, and this gave him an opportunity to start and a bit of a reward at the end. He hadn’t planned on asking Seijuro out today, but when the ‘deal’ situation arose, it was all he could think of. He figured if Seijuro said no to the kiss, he could play it off as just messing with him and ask for something less risky instead. Thankfully, Seijuro said yes, and Makoto took it a step further and finally asked him out too. Knowing Seijuro, he’d probably seen through him and realised he was just using it as an excuse. Oh well, all that mattered was that he’d said yes.

“U-m” Seijuro suddenly spoke, surprising them both with how nervous he sounded. Normally when he got flustered he didn’t sound _that_ nervous. “When… do you want that kiss?” he asked, his voice going a little dry with the last word.

Hiding his burst of nerves and the urge to tease, Makoto looked around the room and shrugged, acting like it was no big deal, similar to how he had the first time they’d met in therapy and he’d asked Seijuro was he was ‘in’ for. “No one can see us in here. Now’s good.” Why not? Might as well go for it.

“Huh.” Seijuro breathed out, sounding a little dazed. 

Seijuro’s nerves made Makoto wonder if he’d ever kissed anyone. He scooted the chair closer, their knees brushing together as his legs slid either side of Seijuro’s. “Will it be your first kiss?” he asked, looking at Seijuro curiously with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Seijuro shook his head slightly. “No. Girls have stolen quick kisses before.”

That was interesting. He may have to ask about that sometime. “But this’ll be your first time kissing a guy? Or having a kiss you want?” Makoto asked.

Seijuro nodded, looking like he was trying and failing to hide his embarrassment. “Yes.”

Makoto laughed, but it wasn’t his usual loud laugh. This one was soft and followed by a warm smile. He didn’t want to scare Seijuro away, not when he’d been given such an important chance. “Tell me when to stop.” He replied as he stood up.

Seijuro nervously shuffled back on the bed a little as Makoto leaned over him. Makoto took that as a chance to kneel on the bed with his legs either side of Seijuro’s, both of them still staying upright. He enjoyed the way Seijuro let out a breath and looked lost in the moment. He’d never seen Seijuro like this. It was kind of adorable.

Makoto moved slowly, giving Seijuro time to pull away if he wanted to. He placed one hand on Seijuro’s shoulder, to steady himself and try and ground Seijuro who looked like his mind had already floated away. He put the fingers of his other hand under Seijuro’s chin and gently tilted his head up. He’d seen people do this in the movies and heard girls loved it. Maybe Seijuro would too.

Leaning in slowly, Makoto’s pulse picked up speed. He felt Seijuro jolt a little as their lips touched before he relaxed and let Makoto lead. The kiss started slow and sweet, and it didn’t take long for Seijuro to start properly responding, matching the gentle pace Makoto had started. Their lips moved against each over so gently while Makoto brushed his thumb lightly over Seijuro’s reddened cheeks. It was by far the gentlest Makoto had been with him.

Makoto had no idea what was going on in his chest as the kiss continued; it felt warm and like something was bubbling pleasantly in his belly. This hadn’t happened before, but it was nice. He blamed it entirely on Seijuro.

The kiss didn’t pick up speed until Seijuro moved his hands up and wrapped his arms loosely around Makoto’s shoulders. That lit a fire in him and he leant forward, pushing Seijuro down until his back was against the bedsheets. The kiss quickly turned more heated after that and Seijuro moved his hands again to cling to Makoto’s back as he responded eagerly. Makoto kept his hands either side of Seijuro’s head, partly for balance and partly to make it clear that he wasn’t going to try anything else, despite Seijuro’s obvious enjoyment. Seijuro had agreed to a kiss and nothing more. He wasn’t about to possibly wreck things by trying to shove his hand under Seijuro’s shirt, no matter how much he wanted to.

Seijuro, on the other hand, seemed to be having a much harder time controlling himself. He kept moving his hands, apparently enjoying it too much to settle on one place, until the fingers of one hand tangled in Makoto’s hair and the other rested on his waist. Makoto couldn’t hold back his smirk anymore after that. He’d hoped Seijuro would like it, but he hadn’t expected him to react so eagerly. He was hardly going to complain though. The reality was far better than his expectations.

The smirk must have been noticeable, because a few seconds later Seijuro seemed to snap out of it and was gently pushing at Makoto’s shoulders. Makoto pulled back from the kiss and sat up. He stayed straddling Seijuro for a few more seconds before retreating back to his chair.

Seijuro was red and _very_ flustered as he sat up. He adjusted his shirt, which had gotten crumpled from his own movement against the sheets, and avoided Makoto’s eyes. Now that the kiss had ended, they were probably going to have to talk about it.

Makoto desperately wanted to tease him, but he also wanted to wait and see what Seijuro would say if he spoke first. He waited a few minutes and got nothing but silence as Seijuro stared down at his hands, so eventually he gave in. “Speechless?” he asked, looking smug.

Seijuro was still avoiding his eyes, his expression unreadable. There were a few more seconds of silence before Seijuro replied quietly. “Well if that’s all, I’ll be going now.”

Makoto was taken aback for a moment before he recovered and let out a little awkward laugh. “Seriously? Did I mess you up that much?” He asked jokingly, despite the sudden unease in his gut.

Seijuro was silent as he stood up.

 _Shit_. He was serious? Had Makoto taken it too far? Said the wrong thing? “Wait, calm down. You only promised me one kiss, remember? I won’t do anything else.”

Seijuro didn’t seem to be listening as he made his way around the bed. “I have to go.”

Makoto’s stomach dropped and he stood up too. What the hell happened? “Hey, wait, seriously, are you okay?” The concern was obvious in his voice but Seijuro didn’t appear to notice.

“I’m fine, I just need to go.” Seijuro opened the bedroom door. Makoto didn’t stop him, frozen in place. Seijuro had definitely been enjoying it… so what had gone wrong?

As the door shut, Makoto was left alone in his room in silence, filled with nothing but the fear that he had just driven Seijuro away forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I really really appreciate all the comments and kudos you leave me. They really help encourage me with future chapters. Let me know what you think of this one~  
> Also, if anyone's curious, my tumblr url is on my profile page.


	8. Seijuro V

Four days later, Seijuro was back in Kyoto and he and Makoto still hadn’t spoken. The inter-high started next week and they were bound to run into each other there, so they needed to sort this out, but how?

Seijuro couldn’t keep his mind off of what had happened. It was foolish, but he hadn’t expected the kiss to feel as good as it had. It had overwhelmed him and when it had finished he hadn’t known how to deal with it. He’d enjoyed the feeling of the kiss, but the thought of anything else made his anxiety spike and his stomach churn. He didn’t know what that meant. He liked being with Makoto and had enjoyed kissing him to an extent, but he desperately didn’t want to do anything else. Did he like him or not? All he knew was that he liked spending time with Makoto and he wanted to do that more. Perhaps it was just friendship he was seeking after all.

He regretted running away like he had, but at the time he’d been so worried about an oncoming panic attack at the thought of having to talk about the kiss, and possibly doing more in the future, that he hadn’t been able to take anything else in. Now, he knew he needed to fix it. Makoto must be feeling pretty awful after he’d left like that.

Staring at his phone, Seijuro tried to work out what to say. Should he just outright apologise? He didn’t really want to talk about the kiss via text though, just in case someone gained access to his or Makoto’s phone. His texts were displayed on his lock screen too, so someone could easily see it over his shoulder if Makoto replied while he was in public. He knew it was over the top to worry about it to that extent, and that the chances of someone else seeing it were very slim, but his anxiety had been in overdrive since the kiss and he couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways this could go horribly wrong.

Being honest was probably the best way to handle it but he could only really do that face to face. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for that right now.

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya. I apologise for the way I behaved on Sunday. I meant no offense._

Seijuro typed and hesitated before continuing. Hopefully Makoto would understand what he meant without him having to say too much.

> Seijuro: _Hanamiya. I apologise for the way I behaved on Sunday. I meant no offense. I enjoyed the visit and look forward to meeting you at the inter-high_.

Seijuro re-read the message a few times, trying to see if it could be interpreted in any unwanted way. He wanted to apologise for running from the kiss, make sure Makoto didn’t think he hated it, and say that he wanted to see him again at the inter-high, but he couldn’t let it seem that way to an outsider. As it was, he thought it sounded like he was apologising for some rude behaviour and looked forward to playing him at the inter-high. A perfectly normal text, right?

> Makoto: _Get on skype_

Half an hour after he sent his text, Seijuro’s phone beeped and he felt his stomach drop as he read the reply. Makoto wanted to sort this out face to face? Or at least, as close to face to face as they could currently get with the long distance between them. While that was probably for the best, Seijuro was worried about having another panic attack. Perhaps if he only stayed online for a little while…

> Seijuro: _I can’t stay online long, but I’ll log on now._

Shortly after, Seijuro jumped as his laptop started ringing. One click and a few seconds later, Makoto’s face appeared on his screen. He was sat on his bed in a tank top with the laptop seemingly on his lap.

“Hanamiya.” Seijuro greeted first.

“Hey.”

How should he start? Seijuro hesitated. “Hanamiya, I-“

“Did you hate it?” Makoto cut him off, getting to the point and looking very defensive, as would be expected.

Seijuro was silent in surprise for a moment. “I. The-?” Kiss? Of course he meant the kiss. Seijuro resisted the urge to look away and kept his gaze on the screen and Makoto. “No. I liked it. But it scared me.” If Makoto wanted to get straight to it, then he might as well be blunt and honest. Maybe then it would be over quicker and his anxiety would stop burning his insides and making him feel so sick.

“ _I_ scared you or the kissing scared you? There’s a difference.” Makoto was still looking defensive and Seijuro was starting to understand even more reasons why.

He didn’t need to think to know the answer. “Not you. You don’t scare me.” That was what Makoto had been thinking about? It must have been tearing him up. After knowing about his mother, it wasn’t hard to realise that Makoto couldn’t bear those he cared about being scared of him. Of course, Seijuro didn’t think he was as important to him as Makoto’s mother, but it still must have been painful to think someone he was close to could be so scared of him they would flee his house.

Seijuro took a deep breath as he looked at Makoto for a few moments, who seemed to be waiting for Seijuro to convince him, before looking down and beginning to explain. “I noticed the tension between us a long time ago. At first I didn’t know what to think but eventually I decided that as long as nothing came of it, it didn’t matter. When you asked to kiss me I was so surprised that I didn’t know what to do, but I agreed anyway because it felt okay. When it came to the actual kiss though… I liked it a lot more than I was ready to handle and I panicked. I shouldn’t have run out the way I did, but I wasn’t thinking properly. I’m sorry.”

Makoto listened quietly until Seijuro finished, then took a few nerve-wracking moments to think it over before replying. “So you ran out because you were confused about how you felt?”

“Yes.” Seijuro admitted, finally looking up at the screen again.

There was another few seconds of silence, in which Seijuro could barely breathe, then Makoto replied, his voice and expression less defensive. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Seijuro questioned, the surprise obvious in his voice.

“I thought you were afraid of me, or you hated me, or something along those lines. I much prefer you being confused than you being scared of me.”

Seijuro let out a relieved breath and smiled, feeling a lot more relaxed. “I’m truly sorry I made you feel that way. It was not my intention.”

“I know, I know, shut up. I don’t do this emotional conversation bullshit.” Makoto stretched out his back, his arms above his head and making the laptop tilt so all Seijuro could see was Makoto’s chest and chin. Seijuro had noticed that stretching seemed to be one of Makoto’s unconscious habits when he was faced with an emotional and/or embarrassing situation he wanted to get out of. “So, is the deal still on?” he asked, readjusting the laptop’s position so Seijuro could see his face again.

“Yes.” Seijuro didn’t hesitate. He didn’t want to run away from that.

“Then you have until the market to sort your head out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading so far and, as always, comments and kudos are highly appreciated and keep me motivated.


	9. Seijuro VI

Rakuzan’s first match at the inter-high was easy and no one was surprised. Kirisaki Daiichi’s first match was against some little team who they crushed mercilessly. Seijuro hadn’t been able to watch that one, since he was preparing with his own team, but he’d heard people discussing it afterwards and his stomach twisted as they talked about dirty tactics.

Seijuro and Makoto hadn’t managed to see each other much at the inter-high so far. They got brief glimpses of each other in the arena but Seijuro didn’t really want to stop and chat where people could see and might suspect something. He wanted to see Makoto and he knew he was being too paranoid about people finding out about them but he couldn’t help it. The stress of the tournament, memories of what had happened at last year’s Winter Cup, and his worries about people finding out about him and Makoto had his anxiety in a mess. Not to mention the presence of his other self felt stronger than it had in months and was stopping him thinking as clearly as he would like. It was far from the end of his world if people did find about their friendship, he knew that, and he wanted to tell his other friends at some point, but if they found out about their flirting or the date, that was a different matter. What if it their tension was obvious when they talked in person? Or if Seijuro got suspiciously flustered? It would be better to keep everything a secret.

Nevertheless, they still shared texts at the tournament, and Seijuro did want to see Makoto when they were away from prying eyes, so he promised to meet up at least one evening in secret if they could get away from their teammates with reasonable excuses. Seijuro convinced himself that it hadn’t happened yet because he just couldn’t get away from his teammates, and his nerves about their upcoming date had nothing to do with it at all.  

The next matches were easy for both of them too, until Kirisaki Daiichi met Touou. Seijuro sat in the stands, hiding his nerves as best he could. This was a very important match. His teammates could tell something was slightly off, but either they assumed he was concerned about his former Teiko teammate or they just knew better than to ask.  

Seijuro didn’t doubt that Makoto would keep his word – he trusted him. He knew Makoto’s promise didn’t affect the rest of the team though and Touou were still in danger. Seijuro wondered what Makoto had told his teammates, if anything at all. It was going to be obvious to them if he stopped using their usual tactics suddenly.

The game started and it wasn’t long before all the Kirisaki Daiichi members except Makoto had started attacking Touou. Seijuro tried to focus on Makoto and not feeling sick. By the second quarter, it was obvious that Makoto was intentionally acting differently. He was very clearly playing fair. It was still managing to throw Touou off though, who seemed to be expecting him to do something, as did everyone in the audience around Seijuro.

The teams met at their respective benches during the break and Seijuro kept his eyes on Makoto. His teammates looked frustrated. As the match continued, it became even clearer that Kirisaki Daiichi weren’t acting as united as usual. Seijuro knew Touou were going to win, he had no doubt about that, even if Makoto used his dirty tactics, but he was worried about what Makoto’s teammates would do when it happened. Makoto spoke about his team as his best friends, so Seijuro hoped it would be okay, but he’d never actually met any of them so he didn’t know for sure.

The match continued without any major incident. There was plenty of foul play but no one was carried off in a stretcher, so that was good. Makoto was flawless. He succeeded in setting up the spider-web even without any foul play himself, and he scored some beautiful baskets. It wasn’t enough to beat the new and improved Aomine and Touou though.

When the match finished, Seijuro resisted the urge to go find Makoto and ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach. Their friendship was still a secret, and it wouldn’t do any good for him to go barging into the Kirisaki Daichii changing room when they’d just lost. Instead, he followed his teammates out of the arena.

Half an hour later, Seijuro needed to text Makoto.

> Seijuro: _You played well._

Did that sound patronising? He wasn’t sure if Makoto would want to hear from him right now. He and his team looked fuming by the end of the match. Who knew what was happening in that changing room.

> Seijuro: _You played well. Is everything okay with your team?_

20 minutes later, Seijuro was still waiting for a reply. The rest of the Rakuzan team wanted to go for food, so they all left. Seijuro didn’t know where Makoto was or if he’d even want to see him, so he went with them. They were all staying in nearby hotels anyway, so there was still a chance for them to meet up somewhere secretly later if needed.

Seijuro tried to enjoy the meal but he couldn’t stop worrying. When Kirisaki Daiichi had been matched up against Touou, Seijuro had been so focused on Makoto’s promise and what his team would think of it, that he hadn’t even thought about the other reason why this match had been so important. Seijuro felt sick again as he worked it out and stopped eating. Their loss meant Kirisaki Daiichi hadn’t made it into the top 8 of the inter-high, so they wouldn’t be in the Winter Cup. Makoto and his friends were third years. This had been their last school tournament together. That _had_ to hurt.

He hadn’t really thought much about it before. He’d just assumed all his friends would make it to the winter cup, including Makoto. How had he missed this? He knew his mental health had been messing with him since he’d arrived at the tournament, but he hadn’t realised it had gotten bad enough to not notice something as important as this.

Makoto always said he didn’t really care much about winning, but Seijuro didn’t think that meant he disliked basketball, and Makoto spoke as if he loved his team (although he wouldn’t exactly say that). There was no way this wouldn’t be painful. If he’d thought beforehand that they wouldn’t make it through, he wasn’t sure it would have changed his decision to ask Makoto to stop his tactics, and he still thought Touou would have won either way, but it made him feel even guiltier for being part of the reason they lost their final game. He picked up his phone to write another text.

> Seijuro: _If you are angry with me, I understand. I think you played wonderfully, but I know that’s no consolation in this situation. I am sorry._

Seijuro struggled to sit still as he waited for a reply. Perhaps he should just call him, but then again Makoto had to be ignoring his texts for a reason. A phone call might only make it worse. Had something happened with his team? Or was Makoto mad at him? Was he too upset to talk? He couldn’t stop stressing over what Makoto might be feeling and being angry with himself for not seeing this coming.

Another 20 minutes later, Seijuro’s phone beeped and he grabbed it in a rush.

> Makoto: _Everything’s fine. I owed the team a long explanation._

Seijuro rushed to start his reply but was interrupted when Reo leant over to whisper in his ear. “You can go call whoever you’re texting if you need to. We won’t mind.”

Seijuro looked up, startled, but then felt guilty as he thought it over and realised how rude he must have seemed. He’d barely been paying proper attention to them for the whole meal. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I will be back.” He got up and headed outside, already pressing call before he’d opened the door. It rang a few times before it clicked.

“Hey.” Makoto sounded tired.

“Are you okay?” Seijuro asked immediately, worry obvious in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It just took a long time to explain.” Makoto replied, his voice completely calm.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t say anything about our deal or name you. I told them about my mother and therapy and that I’d promised I would try to win without dirty tactics.”

Seijuro was surprised. Talking about therapy was a big deal. “How did it go?”

“Fine.” Makoto was still calm and not defensive, so Seijuro thought he was being honest. “They already know what my mother means to me, so they accepted it all pretty quickly. I probably should’ve explained it all before the match but I didn’t.”

“Even though it was your la-.” He stopped. Would Makoto want to talk about it being their last tournament? He changed direction away from the painful subject. “Did you tell them anything at all beforehand?”

“A little. I told them I wouldn’t be doing our dirty tactics personally but they were free to do whatever they wanted regarding that, and I would still lead them with other tactics. I promised I’d explain properly after the match. It threw them off a bit but they’re good players, they managed.”

“You all played very well.”

“I know. I wish we could’ve crushed fucking Imayoshi’s smug face though. I hate that bastard.”

Seijuro blinked, surprised by the sudden fire in Makoto’s voice and trying to remember who Imayoshi was. “The Touou captain?” They knew each other? That wasn’t something Makoto had mentioned before. “You know him?”

“Yeah. We went to the same middle school. If I’m an asshole then he’s way worse, I assure you. He’ll hold this over me.”

“Was that why you looked so mad?” Seijuro asked, immediately regretting it when he realised that probably wasn’t the most tactful way of asking. The stress really had gone to his head.

“Partly. Mostly it was because we were trying so hard but still losing. It was frustrating. I want the best for my team.”

Seijuro felt a stab in his heart. They really had tried so hard, and the fact that it turned out to be their last match had to make that pain even worse, even if Makoto hadn’t explicitly said it. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. What’s done is done, and like I said, I’m alright.”

“I see.” He still wasn’t sure if Makoto really was okay. “If Touou play Rakuzan, I promise you we will crush them, and Imayoshi, for you.” Seijuro promised, speaking honestly.

Makoto laughed. “Well that’s good to hear. I might have to come see that.”

“I’ll look for you in the crowd.” Seijuro replied, smiling at the sound of Makoto’s laugh. He hoped it was real. “Are you really okay though?”

There was a small pause before Makoto replied, his voice a little softer. “Yeah. It’s fine. It’s not like we were expecting to win. I told you before, I only enjoyed basketball because I could hurt people. Without that, I’m not really as interested. So, it would’ve been pretty boring if we’d had to play more of your friends. The team are okay too. Me not playing dirty didn’t really change much in the end and they enjoyed their partial free reign. They’re all pretty happy with how it went, although it would’ve been better for them if we had won.”

Seijuro frowned a little. Makoto sounded okay but Seijuro didn’t really understand or fully believe it. Granted, Seijuro still didn’t have much experience of losing, but he thought Makoto should be more upset.

“I’m sorry I took away the fun of basketball for you.”

“You didn’t. Not really. You weren’t the only one asking me to stop, my therapist was too. Plus, I wasn’t planning on trying out for a university team anyway so this was going to be my last year regardless. You haven’t taken anything away.”

_What?_ Seijuro was shocked. Makoto was planning on quitting? Seijuro knew he felt a lot stronger about the sport than Makoto, who hadn’t been able to stop laughing when he’d first found out just _how_ intense Seijuro and his Teiko friends got about basketball. Still, even with the difference in the strength of their interest, Seijuro hadn’t ever considered that Makoto might quit. “You don’t want to play anymore? At all?”

“Calm down.” Makoto laughed, apparently hearing or sensing Seijuro’s distress. “God, I hate basketball nerds like you sometimes. I have other priorities. Seriously, I’m fine without it.”

“But-“ Seijuro interrupted.

“I’m _fine_.” Makoto reinforced, not giving Seijuro the chance to try and talk him out of it. “I was considering trying for a different club anyway.”

“Oh? Such as?” Seijuro asked, curious. He was still worried and shocked, but maybe quitting wasn’t so bad if there was something else Makoto wanted to do more.

“Either sticking with academics or another sport.”

Seijuro was thinking of possible sports when Makoto spoke again.

“I have to go. The others want to go back to the hotel and eat. I’ll text you later.”

“Okay. I’m really glad you’re alright. Goodbye.” Seijuro replied quickly before the phone clicked as Makoto hung up.

Heading back inside, Seijuro was still worried but felt a little reassured. He re-joined his team and forced himself to focus on them and enjoy the meal.

~ * ~

“Is everything okay with your friend?” Reo asked, changing out of their day clothes into more comfortable ones. They were back in their hotel room now, stuffed full of food and relaxing.

“Oh. Yes, everything’s fine now.” He replied. Reo was very perceptive and probably already knew more than what Seijuro had said. If they found out too much more, they’d probably work out how Seijuro felt about Makoto too.

“Sei-chan…” Reo started, giving him a concerned look. “You know you don’t have to hide anything from me, right? You can trust me.”

Guilt flooded through Seijuro. He knew that wasn’t Reo’s intention, but he felt bad for hiding this from them when they were so close. They shared almost everything. Reo had been there for him before the Winter Cup and they’d grown even closer after. Reo was the only friend besides Makoto who knew about Seijuro’s therapy and had been a vital support. Reo had been the one to help him gather the courage to talk to his father about therapy in the first place and had been a fantastic friend before then and continued to be so now. His other friends on the team knew some details about his mental health, which he’d either told them or they’d worked out for themselves, and had been supportive too, but they didn’t know about the therapy. Still, they were a great help and he felt at home with them. When he was ready to tell people about Makoto, he expected Reo and the team would be among the first to know.

“I know. This… this isn’t something I can tell you though. It’s a friend’s personal matter. I can’t repeat it.” He lied, hoping Reo couldn’t see through it, or would at least accept it if they could.

“I see.” Reo replied, nodding. “Well, in that case, I understand. But if you ever want to talk about it cryptically or just can’t keep it in any longer, I will always do my best to listen and help if possible. I’d keep it quiet too~”

Reo had a way of always making Seijuro feel better. Warm affection filled him at Reo’s words and he let it show in his smile. Reo would definitely be the first to know. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! The inter-high has kicked off and Reo's finally made an appearance, like I promised.  
> As always, kudos and comments make my day! I really love hearing what you think.


	10. Seijuro VII

Rakuzan won the inter-high, much to Seijuro’s pleasure. It had been a hard tournament, coming down to them versus Kaijo, who had just barely beaten Seirin before.

The Rakuzan team had all agreed to go out for dinner after the final match, before they headed back to Kyoto. Seijuro was getting ready in his hotel room when he received a text from Makoto. Despite his promise, he’d not managed to talk to Makoto in person for the whole tournament, only through calls and texts. Seijuro felt a little guilty, since it was mostly his fault. He was the one who insisted on the extra level of secrecy. If they’d been free to meet publicly, it would have been easy. As it was, they had trouble getting away from their friends at the same time. They were both a little disappointed, but the weekend started the next day, so they would be meeting soon.

> Makoto: _Congratulations. You played well._

Seijuro smiled as he read the message after doing up the last few buttons on his shirt.

>  Seijuro: _Of course I did. Thank you for coming to watch._

The reply was quick.

> Makoto: _Are you celebrating? My team won’t shut up about how impressive you are. I need to silence them._

Seijuro felt his ego grow. He was surprised that the Kirisaki Daiichi members were saying good things about him, but then again, Makoto wasn’t likely to tell him the opposite right now.

He couldn’t resist his reply.

> Seijuro: _Please don’t start a fight. You should join in. Praise me._

He sat on his bed as he waited for Reo to finish getting ready too.

> Makoto: _Like hell._

Reo looked over as Seijuro laughed.

> Seijuro: _That’s a poor way to treat the captain of the winning team. In answer to your earlier question: Yes, we’re going out for dinner now._

When they were both ready, Seijuro and Reo knocked on Hayama and Nebuya’s door, letting them know they were waiting. Once everyone was ready to go, they left. Along the way, Reo kept giving Seijuro knowing looks, which Seijuro did his best to ignore. How much did Reo know? He waited until they were outside and walking to the restaurant before checking Makoto’s reply. 

> Makoto: _I’ll see you tomorrow. You better not have a hangover_.

Seijuro shook his head before typing a quick reply.

> Seijuro: _That will never happen. Goodnight._

The dinner went well. Everyone was so happy and relaxed. It was full of laughter and it felt like all their worries would disappear for the rest of the day. It even washed away Seijuro’s nerves about his date the next day, albeit temporarily.

It wasn’t until Seijuro and Reo were back in their room that he started getting nervous again.

“Sei-chan~” Reo almost skipped over to join Seijuro on his bed. “You’ve been texting a lot lately. Is it a girl?”

Seijuro shook his head. “No. It’s not like that.”

“Are you sure? You look so happy when you’re texting. Except that time you looked worried. Is it the same person?”

“It is the same.”

“Sounds like they’re important to you.” Reo replied softly. Apparently Seijuro’s interest in his texting-partner was obvious to Reo. “If it is a girl, you can tell me. You can tell me if it’s not a girl too.” Reo spoke so casually that Seijuro was nodding before it really sunk in. Once it did, Seijuro knew exactly what Reo meant and it didn’t really feel all that surprising. Reo was the most open minded of all his friends, after all.

“Thank you.”

“Okay. Well, you have my support~ ♥” Reo got up to walk back to their bed.

“Um…” Seijuro hesitated. Reo paused immediately and turned back around. He could talk to Reo about this. He had to talk to someone, and Reo was definitely his first choice. 

“Yes, Sei-chan?” Reo asked, their voice still soft.  

Seijuro was looking down at his hands, trying to work out how to bring up his confusing feelings. He wasn’t going to talk about Makoto exactly, but he wanted to talk about how he felt.

“Is it…” Seijuro hesitated again. He needed to work out how he wanted to phrase it. “Actually, there is someone I think I like, but when we kissed I panicked and the thought of doing anything more than kissing is… very stressful and unappealing to me. Is that weird? It seems most men this age greatly enjoy talking about sexual things but that really doesn’t interest me… is that bad?” He’d tried to keep a calm tone as he spoke, but his fear regarding the topic resulting in him finishing with a slightly scared and sad expression.

Reo sat back down and put their arm around Seijuro’s shoulder. “That’s not bad or weird at all. There are lots of people like that.”

Seijuro looked up. “Really? I haven’t met any.”

Reo smiled encouragingly. “Well, the people who don’t like sex generally don’t talk about it much, so it’s hard to find out unless it comes up in conversation.”

“I thought everyone liked sex? It’s just… everywhere.”

“It is everywhere but that doesn’t mean everyone likes it. There are lots of reasons it’s scaring you now. It could just be that you’re not ready for it, and that’s okay, there’s no age limit on waiting or anything like that.” Seijuro shook his head as Reo paused for a couple of seconds, checking his reaction. No, it wasn’t that, he was fairly certain it would never appeal to him. “It could also be that you fall somewhere on the asexual spectrum though.” Reo looked a little nervous as they said the last part.

“Is this conversation making you uncomfortable?” Seijuro asked, noting Reo’s discomfort. “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.” Seijuro offered. They talked about a lot of deep personal things, but this was the first time they’d talked about something like this. He could understand if Reo didn’t want to continue, although he hoped they would. He needed someone to help clear his head.

“No. It’s okay. I want to help you, and I’ve been wanting to talk about this sort of thing for a while anyway.” Reo replied, still looking a little nervous but continuing anyway. Seijuro wondered if Reo meant that in relation to themself, or if they’d been wondering about him, or both. “Do you know what the asexual spectrum is?” Reo asked.

Seijuro shook his head. It didn’t sound like something he was aware of, so he listened carefully as Reo explained.

“Okay. Well, I’m not saying it definitely applies to you, that’s only for you to decide, but it might be worth looking into. I’ll explain. Sexuality is often seen as a kind of big spectrum. Some people might only like one gender and that’s it. Others might like more than one gender and might be attracted to those genders equally or feel more strongly about one than the others. One a side note, there are more genders than just male and female, but I’ll explain that later. Then there’s asexuality, where people aren’t sexually attracted to any gender. Some asexual people still enjoy sex, but a lot find it scary or repulsive and want nothing to do with it.” Seijuro had already been giving Reo his full attention, but he perked up even more when Reo mentioned the last part. “There’s also an asexual spectrum, where some people never experience sexual attraction, while others may experience it occasionally or only under certain circumstances. I can send you some links to read more about it, but maybe it could apply to you? It doesn’t mean you can’t like someone romantically either, so you could still have romantic feelings for the person you’ve been texting. Romantic attraction is different to sexual attraction for some people, so even if you’re not sexually attracted to the person you like and don’t want to do sexual things with them, you can still like them romantically and want to do romantic things. People who don’t experience romantic attraction are on the aromantic scale, just so you know.”

Seijuro’s eyes had slowly widened while Reo talked, and by the end of it he looked a mixture of surprised, excited and fascinated. He ended up asking a lot more questions about attraction and gender and Reo was a wonderful teacher. Their friendship grew even deeper that day, and Seijuro spent the rest of his evening looking up asexuality and feeling _so_ relieved that it was okay for him to feel how he did. It was like he could finally breathe properly again, knowing that it was alright for him to not want sex. Asexuality made so much sense to him and he felt a strong connection to the term. He planned to read and think about it even more later, but he was fairly certain now that he was asexual. He wasn’t so sure about his romantic label, but Reo had assured him (without Seijuro asking) that labels weren’t necessary and it was okay to not know what label fit you or to not want one at all. He also learnt that Reo was trying to work out if they were agender or bigender, and that was why they had been wanting to talk about it. Seijuro promised to listen and help anyway he could, and to use neutral pronouns when they were alone (but not in public, since Reo didn’t want others knowing yet).

Seijuro went to bed feeling a lot less anxious than he had in weeks. He no longer had to worry about the inter-high, and as a bonus, he’d been reassured that his sexuality wasn’t yet another thing he need to fix about himself. His only immediate worry now, was the date the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Seijuro's been learning a lot~  
> As always, comments and kudos are really encouraging and I love hearing what you think!


	11. Makoto IV

Makoto spent the rest of the final tournament day with his friends. They’d gone to watch the final, and Makoto had barely concealed his happiness when Seijuro had won. At least he didn’t have to worry about him being upset about that.

As for himself, he really was okay still, like he’d told Seijuro after Kirisaki Daiichi’s loss. He was a little upset, but mostly because of his friends. The main thing that made him sad was knowing that his friends were going to other universities, so he wouldn’t be seeing them as much. A few of them were planning to keep up with basketball, but the others were planning to focus on something else, like him. They promised to keep in touch via calls and visits, but it wouldn’t be the same. He’d gotten used to being far away from Seijuro, but they had become friends with the distance already there. It would be different when his friends that had been close to him for years were suddenly far away too. They had a strong bond, so he was optimistic that they could keep in contact, at least for a while, but it didn’t mean it would last forever. He’d never had friends like his team. They accepted him as he was and never tried to change him, and when he’d told them about his therapy and that he was trying to change, they’d accepted that too and offered their support. He didn’t think he could wish for better friends. Of course, he hadn’t said any of that, it wasn’t his style, but they were the same, so they probably knew.

Talking about his therapy with them also helped him understand his changes more, especially the parts he’d been worried about. They were reassuring that changing his violent behaviour wasn’t going to change the rest of him unless he wanted it to, just like quitting basketball didn’t mean everything else about him would change. Sure, it was still a change and he may be a little different, but he wouldn’t be a completely different person altogether. He would still be Hanamiya Makoto.

They also encouraged him that, even if he did end up changing a lot, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as he was happy with who he was changing into. People changed constantly, no one was exactly the same person they were the day before, and that wasn’t automatically a bad thing. Makoto realised that he was in control of what changed, at least in the case of therapy and his actions, and that if he didn’t want to change something, he had every right not to and to tell the doctor that. As long as he wasn’t a threat to himself or others, it was fine, and his violent behaviour towards others was the one thing he did want to change, so as long as the rest was left alone, it was okay.

He knew he’d also changed by becoming more sensitive, or at least he could recognise it more and was displayed it slightly more, but he thought he was okay with this, at least so far, so that was fine too. He hadn’t expected talking to his friends about it to be so enlightening, but the more they talked and the more he talked and thought about it, the better he felt.

Makoto was pretty sure he could tell them anything and they’d be fine with it, so he considered bringing up his date tomorrow (but keeping information about Seijuro secret). However, he decided against it. He’d rather see how it went first, and tell them if things were good for a while. He didn’t want to tell them if things went wrong. They were all good friends, so they wouldn’t do it right away if they thought he was upset, but as soon as he showed signs of being fine, they would definitely tease him mercilessly for it. Some might say they had a weird friendship, but it made them all happy, so did it matter?

As the tournament had gone on and he’d been able to see Seijuro, he’d developed a better understanding of his feelings. Combined with how he’d felt about the kiss, he was sure he liked Seijuro romantically and wanted to date him. Now that he knew that, there was a lot riding on the date. Would Seijuro feel the same way? Would Makoto feel the same way after the date? He’d seen a lot of couples get together in school one day, and be broken up by the end of the week. He wasn’t expecting to become a couple with Seijuro right away, but how was he to know if he’d still feel the same way after the date? The whole point was to see if they could fit together that way, right? So he’d have to wait and see, both how he felt and how Seijuro did.

His team had made arrangements to go to Hara’s for an all-day gaming session on Sunday, the day after the date. Makoto figured he’d either be in a good mood and the day would make it better, or he’d be in a shitty mood and being with them would cheer him up, depending on how the date went. They’d been curious about why Makoto wasn’t available Saturday, but all he’d had to do was say he’d promised the day to his mother and they didn’t ask more. He lied, but for a good reason.

While Makoto’s therapy was going well, he wasn’t as sure about Seijuro’s. Makoto, being in Tokyo all the time, had no problem keeping up his therapy appointments. Seijuro, on the other hand, only got to see his therapist when he was in Tokyo. They’d talked about it a while back and Seijuro had considered finding a second one in Kyoto, but he didn’t feel comfortable opening up to another person when he’d already made a good connection with his Tokyo therapist. Thankfully, his therapist was happy to talk on the phone or via skype with him, and Seijuro dropped by for face-to-face appointments whenever he was home. Makoto suspected that Seijuro was paying extra for such special treatment, but that wasn’t his business so he didn’t worry about it.

Makoto was, however, worried that it meant Seijuro wasn’t improving as fast as he could, or that he might take a step back if he was away for too long. The tournament had seemed to add a lot of extra stress for Seijuro and Makoto was worried that it could have made things worse. Even though he was just as far away, he wanted to do what he could to help support Seijuro more than he already was, so he started looking up ways to support and help people with anxiety problems, seeing as that was the problem that Seijuro talked about more often.

The date also played a role in his research, as he wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything to make Seijuro react the way he had after the kiss, and wanted to know the best way to deal with it if it did happen again. He didn’t plan on telling Seijuro he was doing this, but he hoped if he ever did tell him, that it would come across as caring rather than creepy or an invasion of privacy.

As he researched, he came across panic attacks. He’d heard about them, but he’d never heard Seijuro mention them. Seijuro talked about his anxiety in vague terms; that it made him feel sick, or dizzy, or unable to think properly, relax, or sit still. However, Seijuro had said the kiss had made him ‘panic’, so Makoto decided to read about panic attacks anyway, just in case. If this is what had happened that day and it ever happened with him around again, Makoto needed to be able to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ever so much for reading and sticking with the story so far. I really appreciate it and I always love hearing from you in the comments and the kudos ^^  
> If you want to follow me on tumblr, there's a link on my Ao3 profile.


	12. Seijuro VIII

Saturday morning, Seijuro was filled with nerves once more as he tried to pick the most suitable outfit. He wanted to look good, but not so formal that he looked out of place and not so good that he looked like he was on a date. He wanted to fit in, but seem appealing to Makoto at the same time. It wasn’t going very well. He didn’t even know what Makoto found attractive.

He settled on expensive form-fitting dark blue trousers, a white V-neck, and a light grey blazer. He fought the temptation to change one more time and forced himself out of the door. Seijuro’s anxiety didn’t lessen at all in the car to their meeting place. They were meeting at 11am in a coffee shop near the market, and Seijuro planned to be dropped off nearby and walk the rest of the way himself. He hoped the walk would take some of the edge off of his nerves.

When he entered the shop, he tried not to look as nervous as he felt as he looked around.  Thankfully, Makoto was fairly easy to spot, sitting by the window. He was wearing a blue vest top with an unbuttoned black cardigan and black jeans. To Seijuro’s pleasant surprise, he felt more relaxed once he’d spotted him. He gestured to the tills, and bought himself a cappuccino before sitting down with Makoto.

“Hey.” Makoto greeted him with his favourite lazy smirk.

“Good morning.” Seijuro replied, stiffer than he would have liked. Despite feeling more relaxed on the inside, it didn’t seem to be showing on the outside.

Seijuro’s alarm increased when immediately there was an unexpected lull in the conversation. Usually they had no problems starting casual conversations, and when they were silent it was either comfortable or because something important was about to be said. He hoped this time it was just because they were both nervous.

“Have you been to this market before?” Seijuro asked, breaking the tension with a simple topic.

“Yeah, I come to it quite often. They have a stall here I particularly like.”

“Oh? What stall?” Seijuro asked, very interested in what stall Makoto liked enough to visit several times.

“You’ll see it later. I figured we could have coffee then go walk through the stalls for a bit, get some food, then do whatever.” Makoto looked confident, but Seijuro assumed there must be some nerves buried deep under there. Surely Seijuro wasn’t the only nervous one… Either way, Makoto’s apparent confidence made him feel more comfortable and eased his own nerves.  

“That sounds wonderful.” Seijuro replied encouragingly, then took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the flavour. It was sweeter than what he had at home, but he still enjoyed it as a treat. They had already talked about the tournament the previous day, so Seijuro was wracking his brain to think up an alternate conversation.

“You don’t need to be nervous.” Apparently Seijuro’s nerves were obvious. He hoped his cringe at that fact wasn’t obvious too. However, Makoto’s tone was friendly, so Seijuro knew he wasn’t being teased. “Just think of it as us hanging out like normal.” Makoto really did want him to relax. Perhaps that was how Makoto was dealing with his own nerves too.

“I am not nervous.” Seijuro replied, even though they both knew he was.

“Good. There’s no need to be. It’s only a market. It won’t hurt you.” Makoto was definitely teasing this time.

Seijuro looked up at him with a fake disapproving look. Naturally, Makoto knew he was pretending and wasn’t put off as he continued. “Plus, you’re being accompanied by a market veteran. I have encountered several series of wood and tarpaulin stalls before and have always come out unscathed.”

“A fearless warrior then?” Seijuro replied, deciding to play along with a smile. It eased his nerves. Defeating all the markets in the land.”

“A hero protecting my king’s domain and saving damsels in distress.” Makoto continued, looking at Seijuro with a teasing smile as he mentioned damsels.

“As your King, I am glad to have your service.” Seijuro replied confidently, not missing a beat.

Seijuro’s nerves mostly stayed away after that. They continued like normal; chatting and teasing as they did any other time they’d met up. They spent a lot of time talking about a variety of books while they finished their coffee. Seijuro had been reading some obscure classics, while Makoto had been started some 15 book sci-fi epic and a wrestler’s autobiography. About half an hour later they’d finished their coffee and exhausted the topic of books, so they headed out to explore the stalls.  

As they walked, Seijuro felt his skin tingle whenever their arms brushed together as they moved through the crowd. He was filled with a desire to hold Makoto’s hand, but the idea of doing so brought a surge of nerves back and they were in public, so instead he satisfied himself with just the thought of it instead.

They wandered through the stalls for a while, stopping to grab something to eat along the way. Makoto found out about Seijuro’s dislike for seaweed as they decided on their orders and mocked him for that for a while, as expected, although it felt like less mocking than Seijuro would normally have expected. He wondered if Makoto really was nervous too or if he was trying to be especially nice since it was a date. Seijuro didn’t think either was necessary, especially the second option. Seijuro knew what Makoto was like normally, and if he were going to continue to date him, he’d want Makoto to be himself.

Makoto’s expression turned excited – or at least as excited as he let himself look while still keeping his ‘bad boy’ image - as he sped up slightly and led Seijuro towards a particular booth. “This is the one.”

“The one you wanted to show me?” Seijuro asked, his curiosity piquing. What was it? Books? Games? Candles? Makoto had told him about the candle he bought for his mother and, after the date was arranged, Seijuro had wondered if it had come from here. When they arrived at the stall, Seijuro was surprised. Out of all the things he’d expected, it certainly wasn’t a stall filled with nothing but chocolate.

“Chocolate?” he asked, letting his surprise show slightly as he looked at Makoto.

“The best chocolate. Do you like dark chocolate?” Makoto replied, looking at the items already.

Seijuro nodded. “Somewhat. I don’t eat a lot of chocolate. This all looks wonderful though.” He stepped closer to the stall, showing an interest. His mind was full of questions. Had he befriended another sweet addict? Although dark chocolate wasn’t exactly sweet. He’d had no idea Makoto liked chocolate so much. Thinking about it, he had seen Makoto eating chocolate a few times, but he’d never really expressed a special interest in it. Then again, maybe Murasakibara’s snack addiction had made Makoto’s chocolate interest look normal.

“Have you ever tried 100%?” Makoto was looking at a particular section of the stall.

“No… it sounds like it would be bitter.” Seijuro replied, trying to recall the highest percentage he’d tried. It was certainly nowhere near 100%.

“A lot of people don’t like it but it’s my favourite. It’s an acquired taste.”

Seijuro looked interested. An acquired taste? How very _Makoto_.

“I’ll be buying some. You can try some of mine.”

“Thank you.” Seijuro replied, genuinely interested in trying some.

Makoto ended up buying several blocks of the 100% chocolate, while Seijuro bought a bag of mixed chocolate for his team and an extra cute chocolate flower to give to Reo.

They continued walking through the market after that, looking at lots of things but not buying much. Makoto seemed satisfied with just his chocolate and nothing caught Seijuro’s eye. It had been a little over 3 hours since they first met up, the time having flown by, when they found quiet bench to sit on, a bit away from the market crowd.

Makoto snapped off a small chunk of his chocolate and handed it to Seijuro. “Here. Let it melt on your tongue. It’ll be a little sweeter that way. If you chew, it’ll be bitter.”

Accepting the chocolate, Seijuro followed Makoto’s advice. He let it slowly melt in his mouth and was surprised. It wasn’t anywhere near as bitter as he was expecting but it wasn’t super sweet like milk chocolate either. It started off slow and creamy, with a gentle flavour that slowly grew in intensity. Part way through, he started tasting hints of roasted nuts and some kind of wood. It was an interesting experience he hadn’t expected to have with such a small piece of chocolate.

Makoto raised an eyebrow, non-verbally asking if it was okay. He was too busy eating his own bigger piece to actually ask the question aloud. Seijuro nodded.

A little later, he swallowed the rest. “It’s… not what I was expecting.”

“Good or bad?” Makoto asked.

“…good? I can’t say I would eat a lot, but it wasn’t unpleasant.”

“Well that’s something.” Makoto replied. “I gave some to my team and it was chaos. All of them tried to chew and then acted like they were dying.” He rolled his eyes.

Seijuro laughed as he pictured it. “So, that’s your favourite?”

“Mmm, definitely. I don’t really eat sweet things but I love this.”

“I wonder what would happen if I gave Murasakibara some…” Seijuro considered it for a moment.

“Does he like dark chocolate?”

“He likes most things. Perhaps I should go buy him some.” He hadn’t thought of it when he’d bought some chocolate for his team. He’d seen the chocolate flower and thought of Reo, and had focused on buying some for his Rakuzan team after that. Plus, he’d been distracted watching Makoto’s subtle excitement. He was disappointed in himself for forgetting to buy his biggest snack loving friend some. He’d have to send it to Yosen by post, but Murasakibara would most likely appreciate it. He needed to rectify this mistake. “Can we go back and get some more later?”

“Sure.”

He ended up buying a small block of 100% and another of milk chocolate for Murasakibara and then they went for one final walk around the market. When they were done, neither was really sure what to do. Seijuro was enjoying himself, so he didn’t really want to go home just yet, but he couldn’t think of something else for them to do. There was a big part of him that didn’t want to leave though. That was a good sign, right?

“You’re heading back to Kyoto tomorrow, right?” Makoto asked, breaking Seijuro’s thoughts.

“Yes. I plan to leave mid-morning.”

“Okay.” Makoto looked visibly nervous all of a sudden. It was only slight, but it was there. “Well, we’ll talk sometime soon, yeah?”

Ah, that was why he was nervous. He must be wondering how the date went. “Definitely.” Seijuro replied warmly. “I imagine my team will want me, but I can definitely make time for another call.”

“Great.” Makoto’s visible nerves disappeared. “Well, I’m meeting my team tomorrow, so I probably won’t be around until late, so maybe Monday?”

“Monday sounds fine. Are you doing something fun with your friends?”

“Gaming day. Probably lots of shooting each other and yelling. It’ll be great.” Makoto smiled, clearly enjoying the thought, and it made Seijuro smile too.

Seijuro looked down at his bag of chocolate as he thought of something else to say, wanting to delay the end of the date a little longer. He was enjoying the day - the date - and he didn’t want to leave just yet. Despite his initial nerves, he had felt so comfortable with Makoto like this and the date had been sweet. He spotted the 100% chocolate in his bag stifled a laugh, which came out as a soft breathy noise, as a cheesy thought occurred to him.

Makoto looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“I just realised, you’re a bit like 100% chocolate.”

“Delicious?” Makoto teased, making Seijuro smile and roll his eyes.

“No.”

“An acquired taste, then.” Makoto guessed again.

“Almost. More like, it must be handled properly if you want to experience all of its charm. If you approach it wrong, it can be bitter, but if you approach it right, it’s lovely and sweet.”

Makoto’s eyes widened and he looked stumped for a moment. Seijuro stayed strong, not showing the slightest bit of embarrassment of his own words.  

“Oh _God_.” Makoto finally spoke, cringing and turning away before stretching his arms and back.

Seijuro laughed. _Victory_.

~ * ~

They talked for a little while longer, hanging around on a bench until the conversation came to a comfortable close. Seijuro didn’t really want to leave but the time felt right and he wasn’t sure he’d ever leave if he didn’t now.

“Well, I’ll speak to you soon, yeah?” Makoto asked, his voice a little softer than normal.

“Yes. Thank you for today, it was wonderful.” Seijuro replied warmly and felt a bloom of happiness in his chest as Makoto’s eyes lit up a little.

“Yeah. Same. It was good. Um, you’re okay getting home, right?” Makoto sounded a little awkward. Apparently neither of them really knew how to end the date.

“Of course. I shall text my driver. I asked him to stay nearby.” He’d also told the driver he was free to explore whatever he wanted, as long as he could get to him within a quarter of an hour or less. Seijuro pulled out his phone and sent the pre-saved text. Seijuro looked around as he put his phone away again, noting that there wasn’t anyone nearby for the moment. “May we say goodbye now? You don’t have to leave this moment if you don’t want to, I just don’t want to say goodbye with my driver watching.”

Makoto nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Seijuro stepped forward. It was unusual for Makoto to be looking nervous too, but it was the second time today and Seijuro completely understood why. It was the end of the date and Seijuro was stepping forward, that had a lot of implications. Seijuro took another step closer, closing the gap, and pulled Makoto into a hug. The media had told him most dates should end on a kiss, but he was still a little scared of kissing and they were in public, so a hug was the most he was willing to do. Makoto wrapped his arms around Seijuro’s waist the moment he realised what was happening, and they held on for as long as they could without it looking suspicious.

When they pulled back, Seijuro hoped his face wasn’t at all red, and Makoto’s confidence was back and shining through a smug look on his face. His driver arrived 3 minutes later and Seijuro watched Makoto pop another chunk of chocolate into his mouth as they drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The date is finally here! Thank you all for reading, and please do let me know what you think! I really love hearing from all of you!


	13. Seijuro IX

Seijuro tried to keep his nerves in check as he prepared himself. It was the Monday after the date and he’d promised Makoto he’d call on skype after 6pm. They hadn’t specifically said they were going to talk about the date but there was no way it wasn’t going to come up. He adjusted his seat at his desk, making sure he was in good view of the camera and within reach of water if he needed it. At 6:01pm, he pressed call.

As expected, Makoto looked good. He was sat comfortably against the head of his bed, where he always was when they skyped, in a navy cardigan. He looked relaxed but Seijuro wondered if there were some hidden nerves under there. Makoto must be thinking about the date too.  

“Hey, how was your gaming day?” Seijuro asked, smiling as he spoke first.

“Good, we mostly played team games and kicked people’s asses.” Makoto replied, not giving any more information than that. It seemed like both of them were eager to get onto the topic of the date, so the small talk was cut short after Seijuro had given a brief description of his Sunday.

“I really enjoyed the date.” Makoto brought the topic up first. “If you need more time to think about it, that’s fine, but if you’re ready to talk about it…”

Seijuro hoped his nerves weren’t visible as he replied, trying to keep his voice warm and calm. “I enjoyed it too. I…” Seijuro paused, gathering his courage and choosing his words. “I would be interested in another, if you desired one.”

“Hell yeah.” Makoto replied quickly, smiling and looking relieved. Seijuro took that as confirmation that Makoto had been nervous after all.    

Seijuro smiled in return, brighter than before. “I am not necessarily suggesting what I’m about to say as a date, since it is not exactly a date-type situation, but I was hoping I might be able to convince you to play Shogi with me sometime soon.”

Seijuro was almost as passionate about Shogi as he was about basketball and, as a result, Makoto heard a lot about it. He had tried to talk Makoto into playing it with him many times, both in person and online, but Makoto had always preferred to spend the time talking to him instead. He wasn’t going to give up though. He thought Shogi would be a brilliant way for Makoto to use his tactical mind without physically hurting anyone and he wasn’t going to let the idea go without Makoto even playing him once.  

“You really do want me to play that, don’t you?” Makoto replied, looking like he was considering it.

“You’d be very good at it.” Seijuro wasn’t even bothering being subtle about it anymore. Makoto knew how much – and probably why – Seijuro wanted him to play it.

“Are you sure you’re not just looking for someone else to play with you to give you a different challenge?” Makoto teased.   

“That would be a bonus.” Seijuro replied, acting innocent.

Makoto laughed. “Alright. Shogi date then. Will skype be okay?”

“Of course.” Seijuro didn’t want to have to wait until they were next able to visit each other in person and he guessed Makoto was thinking the same. “Perhaps this coming Saturday? If you are available.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. The guys want another gaming day, but Sunday’s good for that.” Makoto replied.

With their next date arranged, they moved on. They talked for a while longer about the chocolate, which Seijuro had eaten more of and packaged up the presents for his friends. Makoto tried but failed to stop himself from teasing Seijuro about the fake fear of markets. Seijuro was more than happy to play along though. It hardly unexpected that Makoto would bring it up at some point and Seijuro was fully prepared with comebacks.

~ * ~

Six weeks later, Rakuzan had a practice match with Kaijo. Not only would it be a good practice match, but it also meant Seijuro could see Kise again and, if all went according to plan, see Makoto too.

Things between the two were still going well. Makoto and Seijuro texted frequently and had skype chats at least once a week. Sometimes, their skype chats were skype dates, and sometimes they were games of shogi. Seijuro had long ago become sure of his feelings and knew that he wanted to be with Makoto romantically. His main concern now was how and when to tell Makoto he was ace. Reo had made it clear that it was purely up to Seijuro if, when, and how he told him. Makoto still made sexual jokes, so Seijuro assumed that sort of things was on his mind. Being on skype meant that nothing like that could happen, so Seijuro was safe, but meeting him in person after the practice match removed that safety net. He knew Makoto would never try and make him do something he didn’t want to, so he wasn’t worried about that, but he wasn’t sure how Makoto would react when he found out that Seijuro _never_ wanted to do any of that; that kissing was his limit. He was scared that it would be a deal breaker and they’d have to break up because of it. He knew they were young and it might not even be something Makoto was seriously thinking about, but even if that was the case, it might be a problem once he did start thinking about it. Reo had said that not everyone who liked sex, needed it in their relationships, but that still meant that some people couldn’t be with someone without it. Which would Makoto be?

On Monday, Seijuro had announced in their skype call that he would be going to Tokyo again that Saturday after the practice match and he hoped to have time to visit Makoto, although he expected Kise would want to take some of his time too. Makoto said he was happy to see Seijuro anytime, and he’d probably be in all weekend, or won’t have gone far, so come over at the usual time: “whenever”.

~ * ~

The match went well. Rakuzan won and everyone had a lot of fun. It was nice playing against Kise whilst being in control of himself again. The match was in the morning, then they all went out for lunch together after. It was Kise’s idea; he wanted to have a meal with Seijuro and introduce him to his Kaijo friends, so Seijuro brought his Rakuzan friends along too.

The rest of Rakuzan returned to Kyoto that afternoon, but Seijuro stayed behind. Earlier in the week, he’d been talking with Reo about the mysterious person he was interested in and had intentionally casually slipped Makoto’s gender into conversation, although he still left Makoto’s name out of it. Naturally, Reo had accepted he was dating a man with no problem at all. In fact, they’d been very excited about it. Reo wanted to meet the mysterious man, even after Seijuro expressed concern that not everyone liked Makoto right away. Reo wasn’t at all bothered. Apparently if Seijuro liked him, then Reo liked him. However, Makoto wasn’t 100% sure about meeting Seijuro’s friends just yet, so Seijuro decided to leave their meeting until another date, and Reo returned to Kyoto with the others instead of staying behind with Seijuro.

Seijuro planned to spend a little more time with Kise and then go over to Makoto’s. He’d already arranged to spend the evening at Makoto’s, stay at his own home for the night, and return to Kyoto in the morning. Naturally, Kise was curious about why Seijuro was staying behind and not leaving with the rest of his team. Seijuro gave visiting his father as his excuse and Kise asked no more questions about it after that. Kise had relaxed around Seijuro quite a lot since the winter cup. Apparently, Seijuro had been a lot more down to earth in recent months. Seijuro wondered if it was his health, the therapy, Reo, or Makoto that had caused this. Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above.

Kise and Seijuro ended up in a cafe, sat near the back with comfy chairs and delicious coffees. They talked about basketball and school mostly. It was pleasant, and Seijuro promised to talk to him more via calls and texts, and to come back and visit again soon, this time with all the old generation of miracles members.

Seijuro truly enjoyed his time with Kise. It was nice talking to him again and not feeling the way he had back towards the end of Teiko or the first year of Rakuzan. So much had changed and it was all for the better. It made him optimistic that things would be better when he met up with the rest for their group outing too. He was glad that Kise got along with the rest of the Rakuzan team too, especially Reo. People made a lot of assumptions about Reo, and you could tell a lot about them from their reactions to those assumptions. It was easy to spot the assholes. Thankfully, Kise didn’t say a single negative thing and got along well with Reo. Maybe Kise would be fine with Seijuro’s interests too, once he was ready to tell the others.

Eventually, it came time for Seijuro to make his leave and get a taxi to Makoto’s. He didn’t bother calling his driver out for this trip. Once in Makoto’s bedroom, Seijuro felt a combination of relieved and nervous. They’d grown so much closer and talking to Makoto helped him relax wonderfully. Just the sound of his voice worked wonders at soothing him. However, this was the first time they’d seen each other in several weeks, so he couldn’t help being worried about what might happen now they were physically together.

They ended up sat on Makoto’s bed. They were both a little awkward and nervous at first, but they relaxed after a little teasing and laughing. Laughing led to leaning on each other, and that led to Makoto’s arm around Seijuro’s shoulder. It was warm and comforting, and Seijuro was happy with it. Everything was fine even when they started laying down, Makoto slightly on top and rubbing his hand gently over Seijuro’s waist as they kissed slowly. Seijuro was a little nervous as the kiss continued, worrying about what if Makoto wanted to do more, but he was still enjoying the kiss as it was and was determined not to let his anxiety get in the way. Makoto had told him to say stop if he needed, presumably worried about a repeat performance of their previous kiss, and had already pulled back twice to check it was okay. Seijuro knew the kiss was safe. He had nothing to worry about. It wasn’t until Makoto’s hand slipped under Seijuro’s top to touch the skin on his waist that he found himself struggling to breathe.

The panic attack had come on so suddenly he hadn’t even had time to tell Makoto to stop or try to prevent the attack from happening. He’d gasped as he felt his throat close up and pushed Makoto off him suddenly as he sat up, clutching at the sheets with his right hand, and Makoto’s shirt with his left. Something about Makoto’s hand on his skin had set him off and now he was choking out that he couldn’t breathe and clinging to Makoto desperately. Makoto was trying his best to reassure him that it was a panic attack and he could breathe and everything would be okay, but the intense feeling of doom rushing through Seijuro’s veins was too much. It took half an hour for Seijuro start breathing more normally and he didn’t stop shaking for a lot longer than that.

Makoto apologised softly as he tried to soothe him, holding Seijuro close, one arm around his back above the clothes, after checking it was okay, and the other stroking his hair. Seijuro was curled up to him, his head against his shoulder and both arms clinging to Makoto’s torso. He could still feel a lot of the terror running through him and it made him feel safer to cling to Makoto like that. No doubt he’d feel embarrassed later, but right now he just wanted to stop shaking. Seijuro shook his head slightly at the apology, and murmured that he’d explain once he was feeling well enough.

An hour later, Seijuro was ready to say what he wanted to. They had settled into a more comfortable position, Makoto’s back against the head of the bed and Seijuro cuddled up to him again. Both had closed their eyes to relax, and Makoto had held him the whole time. Seijuro had been feeling better for a little while and had taken the extra time to think.

“Okay.”

It was time to explain everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think~ Comments and kudos are always very very appreciated and brighten up my day~!


	14. Makoto V

“Okay.”

The word caught Makoto’s attention and he opened his eyes. Seijuro sat up, pulling away from his previous position cuddled up to him. Makoto sat up a little straighter against the headboard of the bed, while Seijuro crossed his legs and sat in front of him. Makoto couldn’t predict what Seijuro was going to say but he could tell it was going to be important.

“Don’t speak until I’m finished.” Seijuro began, stopping Makoto before he’d even started. Makoto was a little worried about what Seijuro was going to say but hid it behind a calm façade. He tried not to let his mind jump to conclusions like it had the first time Seijuro had freaked out after they’d kissed. It was hard though, when his kisses had led to a panic attack.

Makoto nodded, affirming that he would remain quiet until Seijuro finished what he wanted to say. He sat still, listening carefully, as Seijuro explained his asexuality and sex repulsion. After the initial explanation, Makoto was a little confused, not sure if it meant Seijuro didn’t want to date him anymore, but after a few questions it made sense. He was relieved that Seijuro wasn’t trying to end things. He knew he wasn’t exactly the best catch, so he couldn’t help but think Seijuro would one day realise that and move on. Seijuro was the son of a rich and respectable family, after all.

Makoto didn’t need to think about how he felt about Seijuro’s confession. Of course it wasn’t a problem that Seijuro didn’t want sex. Makoto hadn’t really even thought about having sex with him anyway. Sex wasn’t something that was on Makoto’s mind much. He wasn’t repulsed by it, like Seijuro, he just didn’t care. He had his hand when he needed it and wasn’t bothered about the rest. He was so happy being with Seijuro and didn’t care that there would be no sex.

“Okay. So what do I need to do to support you? I promise I won’t try anything unless you explicitly say you want it, and I won’t push for anything.”

“You don’t mind?” Seijuro looked surprised and like he couldn’t quite believe it. Had he thought Makoto wouldn’t be supportive? “I know a lot of people think sex is vital to a relationship…”

“Nah. Look at all the old couples that are still together. You think they bother to fuck?” Makoto shrugged while Seijuro pursed his lips slightly. He phrased it bluntly but he thought it was a good point. Those couples were still happy together despite not having sex, and plenty of people waited until marriage but still had good relationships up to then. Clearly sex wasn’t important if relationships still worked without it. Makoto and Seijuro didn’t need it at all. “Sure, I imagine it’s a nice feeling but it’s not necessary and I don’t really care if I get some or not. I have hands if I need them.” Makoto offered an arm out to Seijuro, wanting him closer again so he could cuddle him comfortingly. He knew he was being especially affectionate today, more than he’d usually feel comfortable showing, but it was very obvious that Seijuro needed it. He could deal with a little embarrassment and possible teasing later if it meant Seijuro was okay now. Just like their conversation in the Akashi family basketball court, Makoto was taking this seriously.

“Are you sure?” Seijuro asked, still sounding surprised and a little hesitant as he stayed where he was.

“Very. You don’t need to be scared of me. I won’t do anything unless you ask for it.” Makoto tried to reassure him. Seijuro had looked absolutely terrified during the panic attack and Makoto never wanted to be the cause of that look ever again. 

Seijuro’s eyes widened. “I was never afraid of you. I knew you would stop if I asked. I was… afraid of the actual actions and… worried that you might not accept this so easily.”

So, he wasn’t afraid of Makoto? Well, that was good. Makoto wasn’t sure he’d ever stop worrying about his friends being afraid of him. He was still part of the cause of Seijuro’s fear though. “Is this because of all the sex jokes? I can stop those if you want. I don’t mean anything serious by them.” He’d gotten used to saying them with his Kirisaki Daiichi friends and he’d enjoyed the way Seijuro got flustered when he said them. He hadn’t noticed any fear behind that fluster, it had always seemed like Seijuro knew he was just playing. Had he missed the fear? He hadn’t meant to make Seijuro uncomfortable.

“No, it’s okay. I know they’re just jokes and I know you say them to tease me, and that’s okay, that doesn’t bother me. The jokes don’t scare me. I guess maybe I thought they meant sex was on your mind a lot though.”

Makoto shrugged. “Not especially. Not any more than anything else.”

“Oh. Well… that’s good.”

Makoto smiled as Seijuro finally moved closer, sitting next to him and leaning against him again. Makoto put one arm around Seijuro’s shoulder, glad to have him back in his arms, albeit not as closely as before. “So, just checking, kisses are off limits too, yeah?”

“No. Kisses are okay.” Seijuro replied, saying the opposite of what Makoto had expected.

“Are you sure? I’ve kissed you twice and both times have hurt you.”

“No, my fear has hurt me. I like the kisses, really, and I want more. I’ll be fine now that I don’t have to worry about you wanting to do anything else. That was what made me panic.”

“I won’t do anything more than kisses, I promise.” Makoto replied, reassuring him again. If kisses were okay then it must have been his hand going under Seijuro’s top that had set him off. He’d just wanted to feel Seijuro’s skin but he could understand how the action had implied he was trying for something more. He won’t be doing that again unless given permission to. It sent a wave of nausea through him, knowing that he’d scared Seijuro so much from just one action. He’d believed Seijuro when he’d said he wasn’t afraid of him but he couldn’t help a little worry in the back of his mind. Even if it had been the action itself that had caused Seijuro’s panic, Makoto had caused that action. At least now he knew Seijuro’s limits and could make sure he didn’t scare him again. He would make sure Seijuro was happy and comfortable with him. “I’m sorry my actions scared you.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know. Please don’t blame yourself for this.” Seijuro knew him so well. “You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you’ve been amazing. You looked after me wonderfully and you’ve accepted me as I am. I’m glad I got the chance to tell you this.”

“I’m glad you told me.” Makoto knew he’d been trusted with something important. Seijuro didn’t have to tell him all of that. He could have made up any excuse and left, but instead, he trusted Makoto with something personal and private.

“I have to leave soon and I want to make the most of our remaining time.” Seijuro changed the topic slightly and looked a little embarrassed as he paused. “Would you mind if we resumed our position from a few moments ago? It was quite nice.”

Makoto couldn’t hold in the laugh as he worked out what Seijuro meant. Only Seijuro would ask for cuddles in such a way. He responded by pulling Seijuro closer, so Seijuro was curled up to his chest and Makoto had both his arms wrapped around him. “Better?”

“Better.” Seijuro was visibly relaxed as he smiled softly up at Makoto. Makoto felt a slow flood of warmth fill his chest at the sight and his concern fade away. He returned the smile. Seijuro was okay now, he didn’t need to worry. As Seijuro leant up, Makoto leant down for a quick gentle kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think?


	15. Makoto VI

_Ring. Ring._

Makoto sat back, leaning against the headboard as he waited for the skype call to connect. It was the week after the Kaijo match and he and Seijuro were due another skype date. A few seconds later, the call connected and Seijuro’s face appeared. He was sat at his desk, as usual. Makoto’s video always seemed to load slower than Seijuro’s, but eventually it worked and they were ready to go.

“That’s a nice shirt.” Makoto commented, taking in the image of Seijuro in a stylish dark red shirt.

“Are you saying I look good?” Seijuro asked playfully.

“You know you do. You don’t need me to tell you that, you ass.” Makoto replied, rolling his eyes as he pretended to be annoyed. Secretly, he liked the way Seijuro often glowed after he complimented him.

“Thank you. It’s nice to hear it though” Seijuro replied, clearly pleased by the compliment. “How was your week?”

“Good. Hara and I marathoned some films. Talked about girls for a bit…” Makoto shrugged.

“Girls?” Seijuro asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He talked about girls. I told him I was more interested in a boy.” Makoto was nonchalant as Seijuro’s expression turned into one of shock.

“What??”

Makoto laughed a little at Seijuro’s response. Even after all this time, it was still so easy to shock him. “Don’t worry, I didn’t mention you by name. Just said that I’d found a guy I liked. Hara took it fine – he doesn’t care about that sort of shit.”

“Oh. I see. That’s great then. I’m glad it went well for you.” Seijuro slowly sat back as he started to relax again.

“Thanks. I was planning to tell the others at some point too. I’ll keep your identity a secret for as long as you want though.” He wasn’t going to out Seijuro. He didn’t mind keeping it a secret either. He didn’t care if others knew or not. It didn’t matter what others thought or knew, as long as he and Seijuro were happy.

“Thank you. Do you… think I should tell my friends?” Seijuro sounded hesitant. Makoto already knew Seijuro had told Reo and that was fine. He assumed by ‘friends’, Seijuro meant the rest of his team and maybe his Teiko friends.

“Only if you want to.” Makoto wasn’t going to pressure him to tell anyone. “There’s no rush if you’re not ready.”

“I’ve already told Reo… He’s always very accepting. He’s very curious about who it is though.”

“Yeah? Do you want to tell him? If you think he’s trustworthy then I’m fine with it.” Seijuro was the one whose reputation would be most at risk if this became public. Makoto could handle it.

“Really?”

“Sure. You can tell whoever you want, as long as they’re a friend of yours and you trust them.” Makoto was serious. He was a little worried for Seijuro, especially as he had no idea how Seijuro’s friends would take it, but he was fine with him telling them if he wanted to. He trusted Seijuro’s opinion.

“Thank you…” Seijuro looked a little stunned.

“…why are you looking at me like that?” Makoto looked suspiciously at the screen.

“You’re very brave.” Seijuro replied honestly.

Makoto grimaced. _Really?_ “Fuck that. It shouldn’t be considered ‘brave’ to not feel I have to hide us.”

“True, but I still think you are brave.”

“Whatever.” He was determined to distract Seijuro from giving him any more compliments. Seijuro was the one that enjoyed being praised. “Do you mind me telling the others I’m dating some mysterious nameless guy?”

“Not at all. You may tell them. Perhaps… perhaps we could arrange a way for me to meet them someday? Then, maybe after that, you could tell them who your mysterious boyfriend is.”

The second last word caught Makoto’s attention. It was the first time either of them had called the other their boyfriend. He’d figured they were definitely a couple about 2 weeks ago, but this was the first time either had actually said something like that. The urge to tease Seijuro about being the first to say it rose up but he pushed it back down. Makoto already knew that Seijuro had had an anxious week and no doubt was panicking about saying that beneath his calm surface. As fun as it would be to tease him, now was probably not the time. He’d save it for later. Plus, he was secretly very happy to be called his boyfriend.

“Sure. I’ll try and think of a way.”

~ * ~

Makoto ended up teasing Seijuro about being his boyfriend just two days later. Seijuro’s mood had picked up considerably, and they’d been teasing each other about all kinds of things when it had slipped out. Seijuro hadn’t minded but had become fantastically flustered. Makoto wasn’t going to let him forget that he’d said it first.

The next time Makoto and his team hung out at his house, Makoto brought up his new boyfriend. He didn’t bother to slide it subtly into conversation, and instead just blurted it out when they’d been on a boring topic.

“Whatever. This is boring. More interestingly, I have a boyfriend now. If you have a problem with it, I’m going to kick you in the face.”

The others had taken less than ten seconds to fully accept his sudden announcement and move onto bombarding him with questions designed to annoy him. Makoto had never doubted that they’d all accept it no problem. The good-natured teasing wasn’t a surprise either. They may be assholes on the court, but they all got along great and understood each other wonderfully. It just so happened that that understanding also came with merciless teasing.

“Who is it?”

“When did it start?”

“Is he pretty?”

“Can we meet him?”

“Who tops?”

“Is he prettier than us?”

“You’re totally into pretty boys.”

“The cute and delicate type, for sure.”

“Or super rough. Does he have a motorcycle?”

“Is he older than you? Are you a boy toy?”

“Wait, wait, does he play ball?”

“Of course he plays with balls, you idiot, he’s into guys.”

“I retract what I said before.” Makoto interjected with a groan. “I’m going to kick you all in the face anyway.”

“…”

“… Okay but seriously, is he a pretty boy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are always super welcome as I love hearing what you think!  
> This chapter's short but the next one will make up for it.


	16. Seijuro X

> Makoto: _Hey. My teammates took everything fine._

Relief washed through Seijuro at the words. Although Makoto had reassured him several times before he’d told them that it would be fine, he couldn’t help but worry.

> Seijuro: _That’s great to hear. I’m glad._
> 
> Makoto: _Yeah. Although, since I wouldn’t give them a name, you’re now called Pretty Boy A_.

Seijuro stared at the text. Pretty Boy… A? Where had that come from?

> Seijuro: _A?_
> 
> Makoto: _Yeah. I didn’t ask about the A. There’s no point changing their minds about this sort of thing once they’ve settled on it._

Seijuro understood. No doubt it was similar to the way Makoto would settle on something when he realised it made Seijuro flustered. He wondered if Makoto had become flustered at any point while he’d told them, and what had it looked like?

> Seijuro: _Perhaps you are Pretty Boy B._

His heart fluttered a little as he replied. He wasn’t sure he would ever stop getting nervous and excited about saying this sort of thing.  

> Makoto: _They’d have to have a really warped idea of what constitutes a pretty boy for me to be one_.

Well that wasn’t true. Seijuro thought he was very attractive. As he typed his response, he realised it was the perfect opportunity to mention something he’d been thinking about for a while. He wasn’t really sure why they hadn’t brought it up before.

> Seijuro: _I think you’re pretty. Although, I’d rather call you Makoto_.
> 
> Makoto: _Then call me Makoto._

The reply was quick and Seijuro’s nerves bloomed into joy.

> Seijuro: _You may call me Seijuro._
> 
> Makoto: _Not Pretty Boy A?_

There was no doubt that Seijuro would be called Pretty Boy A at some point after this, but he was far more interested in hearing Makoto say his given name.

> Seijuro: _No. Only your friends may call me that. You are stuck with my real name._
> 
> Makoto: _Well shit. That sucks._

Seijuro laughed at the response. Makoto wasn’t the only one who could tease though, and he’d given him wonderful ammunition.

> Seijuro: _Does this mean you told them I’m pretty?_
> 
> Makoto: _Shut up. No. They asked._
> 
> Seijuro: _And how did you answer?_
> 
> Makoto: _Did you lose all your mirrors or something? I said yes, of course._

~ * ~

As expected, Reo took the news that Seijuro was dating Hanamiya Makoto very well a few weeks later. They’d been very surprised at first, and understandably a little worried, but still accepting. However, once Seijuro had explained that Makoto wasn’t the same off the court as he was on, and that he was working on resisting his violent tactics (although Seijuro didn’t give details or mention therapy) as seen at the inter-high, Reo was nothing but excited.

“I’m so happy for you, Sei-chan! I would still love to meet him.”

“Sure. I asked him not to tell his friends my name until I’d met them. Perhaps we could stage some kind of ‘accidental’ meeting with us and them in Tokyo?”

“If this means a day trip to Tokyo then I’m in.” Reo was almost sparkling.

“How about a weekend trip?”

“I am so lucky to know you, Sei-chan.”

~ * ~

Three days later, Seijuro had a call from Kise, asking him to come to Tokyo for a ‘fun’ weekend in a fortnight with everyone. Everyone meant the rest of the generation of miracles, of course, except for Momoi whose weekend was already booked up. Seijuro liked the idea of seeing them all again, it had been too long, and perhaps it would be a good opportunity to tell them about him and Makoto? He replied that yes, he would come, and phoned his family home to let them know he would be staying there that weekend.

The plan was to go home on Friday evening, spend all of Saturday and most of Sunday with his friends, and then return to Kyoto on Sunday night. He thought about asking Reo to join him so they could meet Makoto, but he didn’t think he’d have time to see Makoto at all, let alone with Reo too, so he didn’t ask.

When Friday came, Seijuro was packed and ready on the train with no problem. He text Makoto throughout his journey and they chatted about various things, including the trip. Makoto understood that Seijuro was unlikely to have time to visit him, but Makoto was considering coming up to visit Kyoto sometime instead. That way, he could spend time with Seijuro, explore a beautiful place, and meet Seijuro’s Rakuzan friends. Friday evening was spent on Skype with Reo, hearing about all of Reo’s TV shows and catching them up on Makoto’s plan to visit.

~ * ~

“Akashi-cchi!” Kise’s voice rang out clear across the café.

Seijuro walked towards the voice, taking in the sight of his old friends gathered around the table. Was he the last to arrive? He was exactly on time though, so it wasn’t a problem.

After buying his coffee and greeting them, he sat down. They spent two hours catching up before going shopping for an hour (mostly for Kise’s sake), then finding an outdoor basketball court. It was no surprise that they ended up there.

While they had been catching up, Seijuro had kept quiet about Makoto, therapy, and his mental health. When asked, it had only been about his team and academics and he had answered briefly. The others hadn’t probed too much, so Seijuro easily kept his secret.

They played for several hours at the court, not bothering to keep score in favour of keeping things fun and friendly and to decrease the chances of any fights (or changes in Seijuro - they didn’t say that, but he knew that was on their minds).

Things didn’t get really intense until they went back to Seijuro’s. They’d gone there because his home could more easily fit them all inside and because Seijuro knew his father was away. Seijuro didn’t mention that he’d offered/insisted because his anxiety was playing up a little from all the interaction and basketball, and he hoped being at home may settle him.

Everything was going smoothly until they started talking about girls. Kise had gone through a couple of relationships in the last year, while Aomine blabbered about his idols, Murasakibara expressed no interest at all, Midorima became a little flustered, and Kuroko stayed out of it. When they finally noticed Seijuro hadn’t said anything, they all turned their attention to him.

“Any girls caught your eye, Akashi-cchi?” Kise asked, looking excited and curious.

“No.” Seijuro replied immediately as his anxiety spiked. He didn’t want to talk about this. He wanted to tell them the truth, and Makoto had said he was fine with it, but Seijuro wasn’t sure how they would react to it. Part of him wanted to tell them, but the other, bigger, part was scared.

“No one? Come on, there must be someone you like, even a celebrity.” Aomine pressed.

“That is none of your business, Aomine. There is no more reason that there must be someone I like than the same for Kuroko or Midorima.”

“Yeah but I’m sure a lot of girls must like you.” Aomine replied. Well, that didn’t mean he had to like them, and why did Aomine care?

“And boys too” Kise added, causing everyone to look at him and Seijuro’s anxiety to flare even more.

“What? It’s true.” Kise looked a little defensive. “I’ve had boys confess to me, I wouldn’t be surprised if some liked all of you too.”

“Seriously?” Aomine asked, frowning.

“How did you handle that?” Midorima asked, looking curious.

“Well, I’m not into men, so I politely turned them down the same as I do with the girls I’m not interested in. It’s not really all that different.”

Kise was giving off the impression that he was accepting of male-male relationships and it replaced some of Seijuro’s anxiety with warm affection. It gave him hope that maybe it would be okay if he told them, after all.

Aomine shook his head. “Wasn’t it weird?” Ah, perhaps not then.

“No. Why would it be? I don’t have any problem with that sort of thing. You don’t control who you like.” Kise responded, looking a little annoyed.

Midorima nodded. “That’s very open minded of you.”

“Does anyone here have an issue with it?” Kise asked, looking around.

“Of course not.” Kuroko replied.

Midorima shook his head. “I believe my family would expect me to publicly keep quiet on the subject, but privately I have no problem.”

Murasakibara shrugged. No one bothered asking him for more details – it just wasn’t possible that he would have any kind of problem with anything like that. Murasakibara accepted most things as long as it didn’t hurt him or get in his way. Most likely, he didn’t care at all.

Aomine looked hesitant. “Well… I guess not… as long as they’re not trying anything with me…”

Seijuro hoped his expression hadn’t darkened at Aomine’s words. That didn’t sound good.

Kise sighed. “It’s no different from girls liking you. You’re not freaked out when a girl you’re not into likes you, right? So why would you be if it’s a guy? It’s the same thing.”

“I guess but…” Aomine started but was cut off by Kise again.

“No but. Don’t be a dick.”

“I’m not! I just… I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it, okay!”

“Perhaps you ought to think about it then.” Kuroko cut in.

“Would you have a problem if one of us was interested in men?” Seijuro spoke, keeping his face neutral as he took a risk. “Regardless of whether or not they liked you at some point?” No doubt everyone would now realise that this was the first thing he’d said in a while. He hoped his racing heart was in no way noticeable.

“What?” Aomine, and the others, all looked at Seijuro. “No. Of course not. You’re my friends.” He said the last part a little quieter. Aomine wasn’t the best at dealing with emotional things. Seijuro couldn’t fault him for that, he didn’t used to be much better. However, he could fault him for his, most likely unintentional, vague homophobia.

“Then why would you have a problem with others?” Seijuro asked.

“I guess I wouldn’t…” Aomine replied, looking a little confused. “I just…”

“What?” Kise asked, looking more annoyed now.

“I don’t know! It just felt a little weird when you asked but I guess I don’t really care.” Aomine replied defensively, looking uncomfortable and a little apologetic. “I’m not good at this stuff, okay? I don’t have a problem with it, alright, now stop staring at me.”

“Are you sure?” Kise checked.

“Yes.” Aomine sounded more confident this time.

“Good.” Seijuro replied. Everyone turned to look at him again. They all looked like they wanted to say something and Seijuro felt his heart rate pick up. Had they guessed? Should he tell them? Surely Kise was more ‘suspicious’ right now though, for bringing the topic up?

“If anyone here did like men, they’d always be safe to tell me.” Kise added. The rest nodded, including Aomine. Should he say something now?

“Am I missing something here though? Is someone supposed to be confessing?” Aomine asked.

“No. I just wanted to say it and make sure everyone knew.” Kise replied. If Seijuro didn’t say something soon, the chance would be gone.

“Okay…”

“I have a boyfriend.” Seijuro blurted out, his voice cracking slightly and causing him to look down. He wasn’t sure if he was more anxious about his confession or about his voice cracking. Did it have to crack _right_ at that moment?

Everyone looked at him again and he refused to meet their eyes.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone that. Not everyone is as accepting as you.” He added, pleased that his voice was back to normal.

“Of course…” Midorima replied, sounding a little shocked.

“Your secret is safe with us.” Kuroko added and Seijuro looked up to see Kise nod.

“Is it someone we know?” Murasakibara asked, expressing more of an interest in the conversation now. His voice was warm, so Seijuro knew his assumption that Murasakibara was accepting was correct.

Aomine looked shocked and remained silent.

“You certainly know of him, but you don’t really know him.” Seijuro replied honestly but cryptically.

“Does he play basketball?” Kise asked.

“Yes.”

“Have any of us played against him?” Apparently Kise was the most curious.

“One of you has.”

“Oooh, who is it? Can we meet him?” Kise both sounded and looked excited.

Aomine still hadn’t said anything. Seijuro turned to look at him. He wasn’t going to let him get away with being silent. He needed to make sure there wasn’t a problem.

Aomine’s eyes widened further. “It’s not me, is it?”

“Absolutely not.” Seijuro didn’t hold back his displeasure.

Kise burst out laughing. “Aomine-cchi. Why would it be you? We know you and we’ve all played against you.”

Aomine looked embarrassed. “I don’t know…”

“I was waiting to see your reaction.” Seijuro clarified, assuming now that Aomine had been confused by the look.

“Oh. Well. Erm. Congrats.” The awkwardness was clear in Aomine’s voice. “Look I’m _really_ not good at this stuff. I don’t have a problem with it and I hope you’re happy.” Aomine looked uncomfortable and rushed his reply but Seijuro could tell he meant it. He’d gotten very good at reading the real meaning behind harsh words.

“Thank you.”

“So, who is it?” Kise asked.

“Ah.” Seijuro hesitated. This was more nerve-wracking than the initial confession. Could he really tell them?

“I believe you are all… less than fond of him.”

Some of them frowned while others looked curious. “Someone we don’t like? I don’t know any players we all don’t like, except Haizaki.” Murasakibara wondered aloud.

Everyone’s eyes widened, except Murasakibara, and stared at Seijuro, whose face crinkled in distaste.

“No. It is not Haizaki.”

“Someone on his team?” Kise guessed.

“No.”

“Kirisaki Daiichi.” Kuroko piped up, cutting Kise off and staring hard at Seijuro. “Only one of us has played their first string but none of us are fond of them.”

“Except me.” Seijuro countered, feeling defensive of Makoto suddenly. He was very much fond of at least one of them.

“Holy shit, seriously?” Aomine was shocked into speaking this time. “But they’re assholes. Way bigger assholes than Haizaki.”

“You don’t know them.” Seijuro replied, frowning at Aomine.

“They put people in the hospital! Regularly!” Aomine argued, not put off by Seijuro’s frown this time.

“I didn’t say I agreed with their tactics…” Seijuro responded, still frowning and looking at the others.

“But you’re dating one of them? Is that not a sign of approval?” Midorima added, looking unsure.

“I assure you, it is not. He knows I do not approve of his tactics and he is working on them.” This wasn’t how Seijuro had wanted things to go. Hopefully he would be able to tell them about how Makoto behaves with him, how kind and fun he really was, and they’d understand like Reo had. His basketball tactics weren’t all there was to Makoto.

“Oh really? It didn’t look like they were working on them when they were playing Touou!” Aomine countered, looking angry now.

“Is that so?” Seijuro asked, eyes narrowing slightly and heat building in his voice. Aomine was being belligerent and stubborn. “Every single one of them played dirty, did they?”

“Yes!” Aomine replied immediately before pausing. Apparently something had clicked into place. “Wait. Are you serious? Are you talking about their captain? I thought he was holding back because he was too high and mighty to get his hands dirty.”

“But he fouled people in other matches.” Midorima cut in.

“I could only get him to agree not to play dirty against all of your teams. It was a first step towards stopping altogether.” Seijuro confessed. He wasn’t going to mention the deal explicitly, but it might help if they thought Makoto was being convinced to play differently. Even though it was really the therapy that was changing Makoto, but he couldn’t tell them that.

“He put Kiyoshi in the hospital.” Kuroko commented. Seijuro didn’t really have a response for that. It was definitely one of the worst things he knew Makoto had done.

“That was before I knew him. He didn’t put anyone in the hospital at this year’s inter-high.” Seijuro answered, doing the best he could to control the damage.

“His teammates gave us a tonne of bruises though and did worse to the other teams that aren’t one of ours.” Aomine added, still angry.

“Wait, so you’re saying it really is Hanamiya you’re dating?” Kise spoke, having been caught up in watching the back and forth before he’d really understood.

“Yes, and I’m telling you his tactics are changing. There is more to him than his basketball tactics though, if you’d just list-”

“If he’s an asshole on the court, he’ll be one off of it. You shouldn’t be with him.” Aomine interrupted.

“ _Excuse_ me?” Seijuro was shocked and didn’t filter out the anger in his voice. Aomine was trying to tell him who he could and couldn’t be with?

“He’s cruel, Akashi-cchi. He’ll hurt you…” Kise added, sounding wary.

“No, he won’t.” Seijuro knew he wouldn’t. He’d been so wonderfully kind, caring and accepting of him. He would never intentionally hurt him.

“You don’t know that.” Kuroko spoke up.

“I _do_ know that. I know him far better than any of you.” Why weren’t they giving him the chance to explain?

“Imayoshi knows him and told us all about how he’s good at deceiving people into liking him when it’s useful. He’s messing with you.” Aomine continued, not letting up.

“No, he is not. I _know_ him, and you shouldn’t be taking Imayoshi’s word for it, from what I’ve heard, he’s worse.”

“You don’t know Imayosh-” Aomine countered, but Seijuro cut him off before he could say more.

“And you don’t know Makoto!” His temper flared. This was getting too much. How dare they do this? He was letting them in on something very private and very important to him and they were trying to destroy it.

“He’s crazy though. You shouldn’t be with people like that. They’re dangerous.” Aomine’s words struck deep and something in Seijuro broke.

He stared at Aomine, fire blazing in his eyes and voice. “People like that? Crazy people? People whose mental health isn’t perfect? People like _me_?” He was beyond angry now and everyone else had frozen still. “His mental health is none of your concern but I assure you it is far better than mine. Yet, he’s to be shunned for being an asshole occasionally, while I get a free pass despite being horrible to all of you for years?”

“That’s different, you-“ Kise tried to say something but Seijuro didn’t want to hear any of their excuses.

“I _what_?” Seijuro interrupted, his voice far louder than normal. “It’s no different. You have no idea what my mental health is like and none of you _want_ to know. When have you ever asked about it? Expressed any concern for my health? You avoid it and pretend nothing ever happened. It’s not easy or happy so you pretend it’s not real. Just like you’re shutting out the possibility that Makoto isn’t the one-dimensional villain you want him to be because then you’d actually have to think hard about understanding someone that’s more complex. And on top of that, you’re labelling people you don’t even know as crazy and acting like they’re something to be avoided? I’ve had multiple mental breakdowns, two of which you have all witnessed, and you did _nothing_.” He spat out the last word, venting all the anger and frustration that had been building up from hiding how he really was. “If you’re going to claim I should stay away from Makoto because he has a messed up view of basketball, then perhaps you should all stay away from me because I have a messed up view of myself and the world. I don’t even know _who I am_ sometimes. That should make me far more _dangerous_.”

Seijuro wasn’t sure exactly when he stood up. He didn’t feel in control of himself anymore. All he knew was that he was furious. They hadn’t even given Makoto a chance and it seemed like they didn’t really care about himself either. “You have absolutely no idea how things are for me because you don’t want to hear it and now you won’t even listen to me explain that my _boyfriend_ isn’t a bad person. Makoto has stood by me and looked after me when I’ve had serious problems and he wants to meet my friends and what have _you_ done? You haven’t bothered to ask anything about my mental health since fucking Teiko despite it being clear that you knew something was wrong. And now you won’t even listen to me talk about someone that makes me happy but you think you have the right to judge him as crazy and dangerous and tell me who I can and cannot be with? You know nothing about Makoto and far less about me than you believe.”

Seijuro took a breath before hardening his gaze once more. “I think you should leave. I wouldn’t want the _crazy_ person to _hurt_ you.”

“Wait, Akashi-cch-“

“ _Leave, Ryouta_.” The venom in his voice made sure it was final. Everyone stiffened before standing, gathering their stuff to leave. Seijuro remained motionless as he waited for them to let themselves out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I've been so excited about posting this chapter. I hope you like it!  
> Let me know what you think, I really love hearing from you! Your comments make my day.


	17. Makoto VII

_Ring. Ring._

Makoto groaned as the sound pierced his dream and dragged him painfully into alertness. He blinked in the darkness as he reached towards his bedside table, aiming for the bright light that was coming from his phone screen. The screen told him two things: it was 3am and Seijuro was calling.

He answered and shoved the phone against his face, pulling the blankets over him again and sinking back into his bed.

“Sei?” He knew he sounded sleepy, but then again, Seijuro must have known he’d be asleep at this time. The realisation sent a pulse of adrenalin through him and woke him up more. Seijuro wouldn’t call at this time unless something bad had happened.

“Makoto…”

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you having a panic attack?” Makoto blurted out the questions, his brain still half asleep and not thinking through the idea that he should probably stay calm if Seijuro was having a panic attack. Panic on top of panic wouldn’t help.

“Are you available tomorrow? I would like to see you.” Seijuro’s voice sounded calm but strange as he breezed past the questions.

“Yeah, of course, but what about your friends?” Seijuro had told him he wouldn’t have time for them to meet up this weekend, so what had changed?

“I do not desire to see them tomorrow.” The bad feeling in Makoto’s stomach got worse. Seijuro sounded far colder and stiffer than usual and Makoto could only think of one reason why Seijuro would cancel seeing his friends tomorrow. Something bad had definitely happened.

“Is everything okay? Did something happen?” Makoto asked, returning back to his original questions. He needed to wake up more so he could make sense of this and handle it properly. He reached over and turned on his bedside light before sitting against his headboard and pulling the blanket back around him to keep warm.

“There was a fight. I am fine. I will you see you in the morning.” Seijuro replied, sounding like it wasn’t a big deal at all and he was ready to hang up.

“What? Wait.” Makoto was baffled. This was by far the strangest conversation he had had with Seijuro. If they’d had a fight, he would’ve expected Seijuro to be panicking or angry – not acting like this. He was unnervingly calm and cold compared to how he usually reacted when something stressful happened. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can talk for a while if you’d like? About anything you want.” Makoto offered, hoping to help.

“No. Hearing your voice has already helped. My apologies for waking you. Sleep well, Makoto.”

“Okay.” Makoto could tell he sounded confused, but he was so confused he didn’t know how to stop it. Seijuro sounded like he wanted to hang up again, and Makoto couldn’t think of something good to say to get him to stay, so he let him go. It most likely wouldn’t help to try and force Seijuro to stay on the line when he clearly wanted to go. “Well… okay, come over anytime tomorrow. I’ll be waiting. Good night, Seijuro. Call me again if you need to.”

It took Makoto an hour before he fell asleep again, unable to shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

~ * ~

10am on the dot the next day, Makoto’s doorbell rang. He got up from the living room sofa and opened the front door, pleased to see Seijuro behind it. He’d gotten up extra early, partly because he couldn’t stay asleep and partly because he wanted to be ready in case Seijuro came early.

“Hey.” He greeted Seijuro, smiling. He still hadn’t been able shake the worry that something was really wrong, but at least with Seijuro in the house he might be able to do something about it.

“Hello.” Seijuro replied as he entered the house. His voice was the same as yesterday, completely calm but lacking something important.

Makoto held back a frown. Where was the warmth he usually greeted him with? The smile? The fight must have been really bad for it to affect Seijuro like this.

Makoto ended up making tea for both of them and bringing it up to his room with Seijuro. He put on some quiet background music so it wasn’t stiflingly silent if conversation was difficult.

“So… do you want to talk about yesterday? The fight?” Makoto broached the subject, sitting fairly close to Seijuro on the edge of the bed.

“I told them about us. They had no problem with my dating a man but had a problem with you. We argued, they insulted people with mental health problems, I ordered them to leave.”

Makoto’s eyes widened at the concise summary. _Shit_. That really hadn’t gone well, no wonder Seijuro had called him. Makoto hadn’t expected them to accept him easily, especially the one from Seirin, but this was worse than he’d thought. “Shit.” He repeated, aloud. One thought still worried him more than the rest though: Why didn’t Seijuro seem more visibly upset? He’d always shown some emotion when Makoto had seen him upset before, especially when it was something big like this. Something was off. “What are you going to do?”

“Wait and see if they realise they are wrong and apologise.” Seijuro responded.

“Well… that works, I guess.” There wasn’t really anything wrong with that plan, assuming that his friends would actually realise their mistake and apologise.

“Are you really sure you’re okay? I mean… you did phone me at 3am.”

“He wanted to hear your voice.” Seijuro turned and watched Makoto carefully.

Makoto frowned a little in confusion. “Who did?”

“The other me.”

Makoto’s frown disappeared in surprise and everything started clicking into place. Did that mean Seijuro had switched at some point? Had the fight done that? Which Seijuro was Makoto talking to right now?

“I see. The other you that I haven’t met?” He asked, trying to get a clearer idea of what was happening and hoping his voice didn’t betray his nerves. He knew this could be a delicate situation and he needed to handle it carefully.

“No. The one you usually talk to. I am the one you’ve only just met.”

Makoto felt a burst of adrenalin in his gut. Seijuro hadn’t really told Makoto much about his dissociation. Mostly when they talked about his health, they talked about his anxiety. He hadn’t prepared for handling this and he was afraid of doing something wrong. He didn’t want to make this even harder for Seijuro. However, he couldn’t let his nerves show. He refused to let Seijuro think he was afraid of him or anything bad. He cared about Seijuro, _all_ of Seijuro, and he needed to show his support.

“Ah, okay. Well, it’s nice to meet you?” He wasn’t really sure if that was the right thing to say. He didn’t want to insult the other Seijuro, but it also didn’t seem good for Seijuro’s health that he’d switched, most likely due to severe stress, so perhaps nice to meet him wasn’t the right choice. “Is there anything I can do to help? For you or with the fight?”

“He wanted to come here, so I have.”

“Is it helping?”

“Yes.”

Makoto smiled and relaxed a little. He hadn’t realised he’d been visibly tense. At least his presence had been helpful so far though. “I’m glad. If there’s anything more I can do to help, I will. I could even talk to your friends, if you think that would help.”

“Perhaps, in time. For now, we would like to rest here.”

“Of course. Wanna sit and cuddle?” Makoto asked, trying to be cheery and using his playful tone. He had no idea if this would go down well at all. Would this Seijuro like cuddles too?

“Yes.” Seijuro replied, moving to sit at the head of the bed. Makoto was pleased and followed him before putting his arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer. Maybe this Seijuro wasn’t so different after all.

“Is it alright if I try and get to know you?” Makoto asked, once they were settled.

Something passed over Seijuro’s previously blank face. Suspicion? Surprise? Happiness? Makoto really hoped he’d said the right thing.

“You’re still my boyfriend, right?” Makoto added, hoping to make his intentions clearer. “I want to get to know all sides of you, if you’re okay with that.”

A very small smile appeared on Seijuro’s lips before he nodded. “Yes. That would be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for all the comments last week. It was really nice hearing everyone's thoughts and excitement. Did you spot the switch?
> 
> I look forward to hearing what you think of this week's chapter~


	18. Seijuro XI

By the time Seijuro felt the change again, it was dark outside and he was comfortable in Makoto’s arms. They had been talking about all kinds of things, from basketball to literature, as Makoto got to know the other Seijuro. Nothing in particular had caused him to switch back again but both of them, both Seijuro’s, had felt comfortable enough that the switch had felt right.

“Hello.” Seijuro spoke softly with a warm smile, interrupting Makoto who was in the middle of a ramble about video game tactics.

Makoto blinked in mild confusion. “Hello?” His eyes widened with recognition a second later. “Oh, hello.” He smiled back. “Are you feeling better?”

“Much, thank you.” Seijuro replied. He felt so much better but he was a little embarrassed by what had happened. He hadn’t felt ready to show Makoto his other self, but he’d desperately needed him. His other self had agreed that visiting Makoto would be helpful and relaxing, so they’d gone to him. “I hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable for you.”

“Uncomfortable? Not at all.” Makoto replied, not looking the least bit disturbed.

“Generally, people don’t like my other self.” Seijuro confessed. Makoto liked _him_ but would he like his other side? Reo had gotten along fine with his other self but he’d lost everyone from Teiko when he’d switched. He couldn’t be sure how this would go.

“I do.” Makoto’s words took Seijuro by surprise. “Sure, there are some differences between you, but I liked him. You said it yourself, it’s all still you. I feel like I got to know you better.”

Seijuro felt a flutter in his stomach as he filled with hope. “Really? You didn’t dislike him?”

“Not at all.” There was a genuine smile on Makoto’s face.

Seijuro relaxed again in relief. He liked him. Makoto liked all of Seijuro. Meanwhile, his Teiko friends didn’t care about him and wouldn’t give Makoto a chance. Seijuro forced himself not to think about the fight and turn his focus back to Makoto. “He likes you.” His other self had talked to him a little in his mind and given his approval of Makoto a few hours ago. 

“Yeah? That’s good to hear.” Makoto looked pleased. “He- that you seemed quite protective of… this you.” Makoto frowned a little at his fumbled words and Seijuro laughed softly. The sentence was awkward, but he understood.

“Yes. That’s true. Every time I switch, it seems to be in a situation where I needed his protection. I was worried he might not accept you easily because being close to someone means I could get hurt, but he likes you.”

“So I’ve got the stamp of approval?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Makoto looked smug for a moment before his expression and voice softened and he turned more serious. Seijuro knew what was coming. “So… do you want to talk about it? What happened?”

Seijuro didn’t want to think about the fight but he couldn’t avoid it forever. “I’m sorry for calling you so early in the morning.”

“That’s okay. I’m glad hearing my voice could help.” Makoto was still smiling softly, but Seijuro swore he could detect a hint of smugness in there.

“Oh, hush. Don’t mock me for that.”

“I’m not. I’m just… remembering it.” Makoto was starting to look smug too.

“Did you mean what you said?” Seijuro asked, suddenly changing the topic as he remembered something Makoto had offered. His could stop his mind going back to the fight. “That you would talk to my friends?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want.”

“Maybe… I… “ Seijuro let out a heavy breath. “They wouldn’t _listen_ to me. They just kept saying horrible things and wouldn’t give me a chance to say anything about you. I didn’t even get to tell them your name before they started. They basically heard your team’s name and jumped to the wrong conclusions and then… ” Seijuro stopped to calm his breathing. He didn’t want to start panicking again.

“Then? You said something about insulting the mentally ill?”

“Yeah…” Seijuro was hesitant to say it, not wanting to insult Makoto.

“Was it about you or me?” Makoto asked and Seijuro delayed a moment longer before replying.

“You.”

“Alright. You can tell me. I’ve been called all kinds of things. It won’t bother me.” He knew Makoto was tough when it came to being called names, but Seijuro still didn’t want to add to it. Eventually something would hurt him and this might be it. Then again, not telling him might make him think of worse things. Seijuro had experience with that sort of spiralling thought pattern.

“They said you were crazy and dangerous.” He admitted. “But if you’re crazy then I’m far worse and that would just make me even more dangerous. Things got worse when I said that and I switched. Then I told them to leave.”

Makoto was nodding and didn’t look upset. “I think you were right to tell them to leave. You don’t need that in your home. They should have given you a chance to explain and not been assholes about being ‘crazy’. Did you… tell them about therapy?”

“No. I didn’t tell them either of us were in therapy. I didn’t really say anything about you. They didn’t give me a chance, but I wouldn’t have mentioned that anyway, it’s not my place to tell them any of that. I just said that they hadn’t done anything to help me when it was obvious I wasn’t okay, and then they thought they had the right to call someone they didn’t even know crazy and dangerous.”

Makoto looked impressed. “Wow. Sounds like you really let it out. That’s good. I’m proud of you.”

“What if they hate me again?” Seijuro was more scared than proud.

“Then they’re not worth your time anyway. If they were good friends, they wouldn’t have done this in the first place. I like your Rakuzan lot a lot more.”

Seijuro smiled. “Yes… my Rakuzan friends have taken much better care of me.”

~*~

Once he was back in Kyoto, Reo was the one taking care of Seijuro. They had been very understanding and comforting when he told them about the fight, just as Seijuro had known they would be. Reo was mad about what the others had said but focused instead on looking after and comforting Seijuro. They talked about Seijuro’s switch and his visit to Makoto and Reo was pleased and impressed by how both of them had dealt with it.

“I’m glad Miya-chan looked after you so well. He sounds like a really good catch.” Reo smiled. Reo had started calling Makoto ‘Miya-chan’ recently. Originally it had been Hanamiya-chan but it was too long to say too often so they’d shortened it. Seijuro hadn’t told Makoto yet but he’d already told Reo it was probably okay. Seijuro wanted to see Makoto’s reaction to such a cute name.

“He said I’m welcome to come visit him again this weekend if I want to.” Seijuro replied, mentioning Makoto’s offer. “I know we said you would meet him when he came here, but perhaps you could come with me to Tokyo and meet him there instead? Although…” Seijuro knew that visiting Makoto meant being in Tokyo and came with the risk of running into his Teiko friends.

“Although?” Reo asked, tilting their head to the right a little.

“I don’t want to run into the others and have another fight.”

“We’ll protect you, Miya-chan and I, if necessary. They might have apologised by then though. Hopefully they will.”

“Maybe.” Seijuro wasn’t so sure. Partly, he wasn’t sure that they would apologise, and partly, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive them. He knew it was supposed to be friendships before romance, but that only counted if the friendships were good and healthy. Friends that were bad for his mental health and told him he shouldn’t be with his boyfriend before even getting to know him, weren’t really friends at all.

“We’ll have to wait and see how things go. I’m here for you whenever you need me. And I would love to come with you to Tokyo.” Reo’s voice was a little excited at the last sentence, causing Seijuro to smile. He had no doubts that Reo would be much better with Makoto than the Teiko group.

“I will talk to Makoto then. You are welcome to stay at my house.”

“I won’t be in the way of you and your boyfriend?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmm… perhaps I’ll stay the night and leave in the morning. Just in case you do want some alone time with your boy. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of adorable romance~” Reo beamed and Seijuro shook his head with a smile. Reo was a fantastic friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! It's so wonderful reading all your comments from last week. You always make my days <3


	19. Makoto VIII

The weekend came and they met at another market. Makoto browsed the nearby stalls as he waited for Seijuro and Reo to arrive. He’d found a chocolate stall while he wandered but the strength of their dark chocolate was a little disappointing. Nonetheless, he bought some to tide him over while he waited. It wasn’t long before Seijuro and Reo arrived at their meeting place and he stepped forward to greet them.

“Hey.” Makoto greeted them both. Makoto knew how important meeting Reo was, both to him and to Seijuro, so he’d wanted to make a good first impression. He’d talked to Seijuro about it, who had told him to be himself. Apparently, Reo was very accepting and wanted to get to know Makoto. Makoto took that to mean Reo wanted to know the Makoto Seijuro did, so he decided to go for a casual greeting rather than a formal one.

“Hello. It’s nice to meet you, Miya-chan.” Reo replied warmly with a smile.

Makoto paused at the nickname. _‘Miya-chan?_ ’ he wondered as he noticed the smug look on Seijuro’s face from the corner of his eye. Seijuro had kept that one quiet. Then again, it wasn’t like Makoto’s friends didn’t have a nickname for Seijuro. Well, at least Reo was definitely being friendly and casual. “Mibu-chan, then?” Makoto returned with a smile.

Reo laughed before they replied. “Reo-chan.” Makoto smiled. Things had started well.

He and Reo ended up hitting it off great and there was no trouble with the three of them chatting and getting along. Reo was just as kind and welcoming as Seijuro had said and Makoto was even more glad that Seijuro had someone like them around him at Rakuzan. Apparently Seijuro had asked his other Rakuzan friends if they wanted to come too but they hadn’t been able to at short notice, which was reasonable. It had dampened Seijuro’s optimism about Makoto meeting them a little but Reo and Makoto had managed to cheer him up again. As far as Makoto knew, Seijuro still hadn’t heard anything from his Teiko friends, and both him and Reo were doing their best to keep Seijuro’s mind off of it.

They wandered around the market for a while before going for lunch and heading to the regular shops. Reo ended up buying a lot of clothes, as Seijuro had told Makoto to expect, before they all went back to Seijuro’s. To everyone’s relief, they didn’t bump into any of Seijuro’s Teiko friends while they were out.

When they were done, they headed back to Seijuro’s and relaxed onto the two sofas in his room. It had been a fantastic day. Makoto was so glad he finally got to meet one of Seijuro’s friends without having to hide their relationship, Reo seemed satisfied with their exciting trip to Tokyo, and Makoto could tell Seijuro was filled with warm pride and joy at how well he and Reo were getting along. He hadn’t even put up much of a fight when Makoto had started sharing little ways to get Seijuro flustered, which Reo had been very interested in. It had backfired on him anyway though when Reo had started gushing about how adorable he and Seijuro were while Seijuro was out of the room. Reo had kept going despite Makoto’s numerous attempts to avoid embarrassment and change the conversation. He was 90% sure Reo was doing it on purpose. The other looked too smug when Makoto had had to turn away to hide the stupid embarrassed smile he couldn’t wipe off his face.

Makoto stayed until a little after 9pm, chatting with them the whole time, before Seijuro’s driver took him home. Reo would be staying the night with Seijuro, which was good for Seijuro, but Makoto had a bad feeling that Seijuro was going to hear all about how flustered he’d become after Reo’s teasing. Seijuro was going to _love_ it.

~ * ~

On Sunday, after Reo had left, Seijuro went over to Makoto’s. They stayed in Makoto’s room, cuddling and chatting for a while before Makoto cautiously broached an idea. He’d been thinking about it ever since he had told his Kirisaki Daiichi friends about his mysterious boyfriend and now seemed like a good time to bring it up again. Makoto wanted to invite his friends over while Seijuro was there. He didn’t plan on it being all day, just long enough for them to get to know each other and for Seijuro to see that his friends would accept him. It was Sunday too and that was the Kirisaki Daichi usual hang out/gaming day, after all. When Seijuro had come over on Sunday’s before, Makoto had rearranged the hang out day for Friday or Saturday if he could. This week, they’d just cancelled it. His friends didn’t mind and they’d understood when he’d said something had come up and he wasn’t free anymore. However, Makoto thought they’d still be up for coming over if Seijuro was okay with it. He just needed to prove to Seijuro that his friends would accept him in a heartbeat.

“I don’t know…” Seijuro was understandably hesitant when Makoto voiced his idea.

“They will accept you, I promise. They’re going to love you actually. They’re all so excited about meeting Pretty Boy A one day.”

Makoto was pleased when Seijuro laughed at the reminder of his silly nickname. He could tell he wasn’t convinced though. “I’m not sure I’m ready for more people to know I’m…”

Makoto moved forward as Seijuro didn’t finish his sentence. “Sei. I won’t call them over if you don’t want me to, but I really think it would be good for you to meet them. They’ve accepted me and they will definitely accept you. They will keep it a secret for you too. You can trust them.”

Makoto waited silently as Seijuro thought about it, but eventually it became clear that Seijuro didn’t know what to think. “Okay. How about I spin some story about how we’ve been online friends since the inter-high and… we play online games together… and you’ve come over to visit for the first time and want to meet the others?”

“Wouldn’t that require me to be skilled at games I haven’t played before?” Seijuro asked, not looking convinced.

“Nah. They’ve been playing for years and they’re still shit.” It wasn’t true, his friends were pretty good at games, but it made Seijuro smile. “Plus, you’re more the RTS than FPS type anyway. It’d understandable if you’re not pro at whatever we play straight away.”

Seijuro looked thoughtful and Makoto became a little hopeful. Makoto had long ago explained some different types of games, and that he liked action and FPS, first person shooter, games the most. He told Seijuro he would probably like real time strategy games, RTS. It made sense, since he liked Shogi so much.

“Would they really believe we’re just friends?” Seijuro asked, seeming genuinely tempted by the idea before frowning. “Won’t it seem suspicious that you cancelled your gaming day for me?”

“Mmm… Maybe, but you live in Kyoto, are the captain of your basketball team, the student council president, and the heir to a company. All you’d have to say is that you had a rare break in your busy schedule and today was the only day you could do.” Makoto replied. “Even if they were suspicious though, they wouldn’t say anything. They’re good guys. They’d go along with it and keep your secret.”

Seijuro smiled looked like he was considering it. After a long silence, Makoto spoke again.

“If you don’t want me to ask them over then I won’t. We can wait. But I know they’re going to love you and I know if you did meet them it would be okay.” Makoto decided that if Seijuro still seemed unconvinced after this, he would drop it.

Seijuro thought it over for a while longer before looking up. “Okay… what games do I need to pretend I play?”

~ * ~

“Alright, well, my two center’s have fucked off for boring commitments elsewhere but the rest are coming.” Makoto announced once he’d messaged his friends and everyone had replied. It was last minute, so Makoto wasn’t surprised that some of his friends couldn’t make it. Usually it was the same group who came to the gaming days but sometimes people from the other strings would come too. Makoto made sure to put the effort in to get on well with all of his team. For today, however, Makoto had only asked those he was closest too.

Hara arrived first, bearing a bag of sweets. Makoto watched carefully as he and Seijuro greeted each other. It was always hard for new people to gauge Hara’s reaction thanks to the hair over his face, but Makoto hoped Seijuro would see that Hara was pleased to meet him. Hara wandered over to the TV and plopped down onto a cushion on the floor near it, popping something into his mouth once he was settled. Seijuro quietly asked if Hara was Makoto’s version of Murasakibara, to which Makoto just replied “gum”.

Furuhashi came second and seemed surprised to see Seijuro. It made things a little awkward for a moment but they greeted each other politely and Furuhashi grabbed the spare armchair behind Hara. Furusahi was quieter than the others that were coming and Makoto remembered him being curious about Seijuro at previous matches. Makoto had a feeling they’d get on easily.

Finally, Yamazaki arrived, ten minutes late. Hara threw a controller at him as soon as he entered the room then pointed to the other cushion on the floor opposite him. Yamazaki casually greeted Seijuro as he went to his designated cushion. Naturally, Seijuro and Makoto sat on the sofa in prime position.

There were enough controller for everyone, since the system was wireless and everyone brought their own, except Seijuro, who was going to borrow Makoto’s spare, and Yamazaki who had left his at Hara’s house which Hara had kindly ‘returned’ when he’d arrived. Seijuro politely declined to play the first few rounds and Makoto wasn’t too surprised, since he imagined Seijuro was nervous and would need a while to collect himself.

“You shot me in the back.” Hara complained, stretching out his legs after the fourth round.

“I saw no friendly fire message after your death, Kazuya.” Furuhashi replied calmly. He had definitely shot Hara’s character in the back.

“It _literally_ saw you do it. We’re sharing the same screen!” Hara replied, amusingly infuriated while Makoto and the others laughed. Seijuro was starting to relax next to him.

“Alright, team game. Come on. The sofa hogs versus me and Kazuya.” Yamazaki spoke up. Furuhashi opened his mouth, presumably to argue his case that he should play but was cut off. “I’m not letting you shoot me in the back too.”

Makoto turned to Seijuro, noting the anxiety in his posture had returned.

“I’ll show you.” Makoto spoke softly as he leant over, showing him the buttons. He hoped he wasn’t being too obvious in his behaviour but Seijuro seemed to relax rather than get more nervous. Nonetheless, Seijuro lost. He had a decent understanding of what button did what but putting it into action was more difficult. Makoto tried to encourage him but he just received ‘shut up and don’t mock me’ looks in response.

“Another round?” Makoto asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“No, thank you. I think I prefer watching.” Seijuro replied, handing the controller back to Makoto. Seijuro would probably want to practice with him on their own before he played with others again.

“We could play something else.” Makoto offered.

“Can we play a little more then switch?” Yamazaki and Hara were already loading the next match.

Seijuro smiled while Makoto rolled his eyes. “Fine, you two play and we’ll pick the next game.”

Makoto pulled out his phone and text Seijuro. He didn’t think whispering in Seijuro’s ear would be subtle but he wanted to talk in a way that the others wouldn’t hear.

> Makoto: _Are you okay?_
> 
> Seijuro: _Yes. I don’t really like the game but this is nice. I like your friends._
> 
> Makoto: _Yeah? You sure?_
> 
> Seijuro: _Yes._
> 
> Makoto: _That’s good. They like you. You’ve been accepted into the group._
> 
> Seijuro: _I’m glad. Am I correct in thinking Furuhashi-kun has been shooting Hara-kun though?_
> 
> Makoto: _Oh yeah. Give it a little time. Once he thinks you’re comfortable, he’ll start shooting you and lying to your face about it too. He’s a daring piece of shit._

Makoto’s phone beeped again. It was Furuhashi. Makoto shot an unamused look at him before turning back to Seijuro. “Kojiro has correctly assumed you like reading and would like to talk to you about books.” Makoto informed Seijuro before looking at Furuhashi again. “I am not a communication service. You can talk to him without going through me.”

“I wasn’t sure if there was some sort of texting first rule.”

“Shut up.” Makoto replied before shooting a look at Seijuro to check he was okay. Thankfully, Seijuro didn’t seem too worried about being caught out with the texting. Makoto wasn’t sure if Seijuro was comfortable enough that it didn’t matter or if he was too interested in the possibility of talking about books to care, but he let the comment wash over him. He ended up talking to Furuhashi about books while the others played several more rounds. After a while, Makoto stopped watching the conversation and joined in the game.

In the end, they ended up spending the rest of the day teaching Seijuro to play a dungeon crawler. Although it was a one player game, they all teamed up with Seijuro and worked their way through together. What was supposed to just be a couple of hours turned into half the day. Makoto kept checking Seijuro was okay, but he was genuinely enjoying it and was happy for them to stay longer. The day went by quickly and it felt like no time at all before the others were leaving to go home for dinner and Seijuro and Makoto were working out their own dinner plans.

They decided to go out for an early evening dinner rather than stay in and ended up at a fairly decent place with a friendly atmosphere so it wouldn’t look questionable that they had a table for two. Makoto was so relieved that Seijuro had liked meeting his friends and was comfortable with them. He had even told Makoto that he thought it would be okay for Makoto’s friends to know the truth, if they hadn’t guessed it already. Makoto was so proud of him and happy that Seijuro liked his friends enough to trust them with that secret.

Dinner was nice, especially dessert, and Makoto walked Seijuro to the train station afterwards. Seijuro would have his bag sent from his house to him in Kyoto, so they didn’t have to go and get it first. They lingered as long as they could, not wanting to say goodbye yet. They were both a little sad that they wouldn’t be seeing each other in person again for a while, but before they could say anything, Makoto got a text.

“What is it?” Seijuro asked as Makoto’s let out a brief sharp laugh at the message.

“It’s Kazuya.” Makoto shook his head with a smile. “He says ‘He’s definitely a pretty boy.’”

Seijuro was momentarily stunned before he started laughing. They spent the last ten minutes before the train came in teasing each other and laughing more. It made the goodbye a little easier. As the train pulled in and they shared a goodbye hug, neither of them noticed the blonde, blue, and pink haired teens watching nearby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos, they are lovely Christmas presents ^^  
> I'm really curious to hear what you think of this chapter! I hope you all have a lovely holiday.


	20. Miracles' Chat Room

> Kise: _Akashi-cchi was laughing. Really laughing._
> 
> Momoi: _They looked so happy! I’ve never seen Akashi-kun smile so much._
> 
> Murasakibara: _Of course they did._
> 
> Aomine: _What do you mean ‘of course they did’?_
> 
> Murasakibara: _I’d be happy if I were with my boyfriend_
> 
> Kise: _If you weren’t against Hanamiya you should have said something before!_
> 
> Murasakibara: _Everyone was yelling_
> 
> Murasakibara: _It was annoying_
> 
> Momoi: _Mukkun!_
> 
> Momoi: _Honestly, you’ve all made a mess. They were adorable and don’t deserve what you’ve done. You need to tell Akashi-kun you’re sorry._
> 
> Aomine: _We’re not sorry_
> 
> Kise: _Yes we are! They were *happy* Aomine-cchi_
> 
> Aomine: _So? Doesn’t mean we were wrong. Hanamiya’s still a crazy asshole_
> 
> Midorima: _I don’t believe any of us should be calling anyone crazy. You heard Akashi._
> 
> Kise: _Do you think he meant it? That he thought we didn’t care about him back then?_
> 
> Midorima: _It is true that I did nothing. I knew something was wrong but I chose to remain quiet._
> 
> Momoi: _We all did. We should have done something. We can’t change the past though, so we need to make up for it now._
> 
> Aomine: _But that doesn’t change Hanamiya_
> 
> Midorima: _Maybe we should ask Akashi to explain it more. If he was as happy as you say, we ought to give it a chance._
> 
> Murasakibara: _Maybe we should meet him_
> 
> Murasakibara: _Or you should_
> 
> Murasakibara: _I’m not getting on that train again. It was loooooooong_
> 
> Kise: _What about skype? Then all of us can be there?_
> 
> Kuroko: _Do you think Akashi-kun would accept that?_
> 
> Aomine: _Wait are you serious? You want to meet that asshole?_
> 
> Kise: _Stop calling him an asshole Aomine-cchi. You already made Akashi-cchi feel bad by being a homophobe, don’t make things worse_
> 
> Aomine: _I’m not a homophobe! I was just confused!_
> 
> Kise: _Yeah, we know, but that doesn’t change the fact that it can’t have been nice for Akashi-cchi to hear you saying that_
> 
> Momoi: _Dai-chan! What did you do? I’m calling you now._
> 
> _Momoi is away._
> 
> _Aomine is away._
> 
> Kise: _We really need to fix this. We need to make sure Akashi-cchi knows we support him_
> 
> Kuroko: _Let’s wait until Aomine-kun and Momoi-san are back_
> 
> _Momoi is available._
> 
> _Aomine is available._
> 
> Momoi: _Dai-chan is going to write Akashi-kun a sincere apology and say that he wants to give Hanamiya-kun a chance and get to know him, if Akashi-kun’s willing to give him a chance. You should all do the same._
> 
> Kise: _Really, Aomine-cchi? You’re going to do that?_
> 
> Aomine: _Yes._
> 
> Kise: _Good. Thank you, Momoi-cchi. We’ll all do it too?_
> 
> Midorima: _Agreed_
> 
> Kuroko: _I think that’s a good idea._
> 
> Aomine: _Really, Testu? Don’t you hate him the most?_
> 
> Kuroko: _I’m hesitant, but if Akashi-kun likes him and says he’s changing, I’ll give him one chance_
> 
> Murasakibara: _I’ll send Aka-chin some sweets. I’m not getting on a train again._
> 
> Kuroko: _You didn’t really do anything wrong, Mursakibara-kun. I’m sure Akashi-kun would appreciate the sweets though._
> 
> Aomine: _and what if Hanamiya *is* an asshole when we meet him?_
> 
> Momoi: _I can’t believe he would be. Akashi-kun has good taste. I bet Hanamiya-kun’s a sweetheart._
> 
> Aomine: _I don’t think Akashi’s into that_
> 
> Momoi: _And how would you know what Akashi-kun’s into?_
> 
> Kuroko: _Akashi-kun said it himself. We don’t know as much about him as we think._
> 
> Midorima: _It does seem unlikely that Akashi would choose to have such a relationship with someone who did not treat him well_
> 
> Aomine: _Yeah but it’s Akashi. He’s not the cuddly type_
> 
> Kise: _How would you know?_ _We’ve never talked about that sort of thing with him before._
> 
> Kise: _and they hugged at the station_
> 
> Momoi: _They were so cute together! Akashi-kun looked happier than I can ever remember. I’m coming with you when you meet him._
> 
> Momoi: _Make sure you give him a chance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~! There's not many chapters to go now!


	21. Makoto IX

Two weeks after his visit with Reo and Makoto, Seijuro was back in Tokyo. Makoto was a little worried that all this travelling was too stressful for his boyfriend, but Seijuro had reassured him that he was well organised enough that his grades and heath weren’t going to suffer. However, it was quite tiring, so Makoto made it clear that he was happy to come up to Kyoto whenever they next wanted to meet up, so, if all was well after this, Seijuro shouldn’t need to get on a train again for a while.

During the week, Seijuro had received emails from everyone involved in the fight, except Midorima who sent him a physical letter in the mail and Atsushi who had sent a box of various sweets with no note. Seijuro had shared the emails and letter with Makoto, wanting to talk about them and the fight.

Seijuro’s friends had apologised, some writing more than others. He also had an email from Momoi, who apologised for not being able to go to their original meet up and for convincing the others to tell her about the fight and Makoto even though Seijuro hadn’t said they could, but that she was glad they did and she fully supported him and would help in any way she could. Seijuro was a little annoyed that someone, probably Aomine, had told her his secret without his permission. He’d told Makoto that was happy for Momoi to know, but he wasn’t happy that someone else had told her when he’d told them not to tell anyone. However, he didn’t let it bother him too much since apparently, Momoi being Momoi, meant that she probably hadn’t given Aomine, or whoever it was, much chance to resist. She wasn’t the type to stand by and do nothing if she suspected that something was wrong, and apparently that group all knew that she could be trusted. Makoto trusted Seijuro, so he took his word for it. They agreed that there was no issue with Seijuro sharing the letters with Makoto, since they concerned him and none of them had said to keep it private. Seijuro needed the help sorting out his thoughts too.

Midorima’s letter was very formal but honest, and Kise’s email was very emotional. Kuroko’s and Aomine’s emails were the ones that worried him. Kuroko’s was honest, which meant he apologised properly for his actions, but was also blunt about his hesitations. Kiyoshi and the match against Seirin came up, and Kuroko stated that he was wasn’t going to forgive Makoto for that, no matter what, but that he was willing to see if he was truly changing and give him a chance now.

Aomine’s was awkward and evidently a struggle to write. Seijuro suspected that Momoi had given him some ideas of what to say, but had left Aomine to actually write it. It was stifled, as if he didn’t know how to express what he felt and didn’t really know what to say. Based on what Seijuro had told him, it was exactly the sort of thing Makoto expected from Aomine. Eventually, Seijuro managed to work out that Aomine was apologising both for his accidental homophobia and for jumping to conclusions about Makoto.

As far as he could tell, Aomine hadn’t said anything about the mental health part of the fight. It was irritating, but knowing Aomine, it was probably too much to write after he’d already struggled through much of the letter so far. Kise had rambled about wanting to support and help Seijuro in any way he could and with anything at all, so Seijuro took that to mean his health as well as everything else. Momoi and Midorima had been more explicit, and had specifically apologised for not helping him before and that they wanted to do anything they could to help now.

After much discussion between him and Makoto, Seijuro said he felt better about Midorima and Kise, and hadn’t really had a problem with Momoi or Murasakibara to begin with, but was still unsure about Aomine and concerned about Kuroko. Even Makoto found it difficult to tell what Aomine really thought when he was so hesitant and bad at expressing his thoughts and feeling in writing. Neither really wanted to get mad about that, since both Seijuro and Makoto had had problems with that in the past too, but it was frustrating that they couldn’t really understand if Aomine was really giving Makoto a chance or was just saying it because the others were.

Seijuro eventually decided that it would be best to give everyone a chance to redeem themselves, and have them visit his house in Tokyo again, with Makoto too this time. He didn’t want to drag out the fight if he didn’t have to, plus it wasn’t long until the winter cup, his birthday, and Christmas. He didn’t want to forgive them too easily, but he didn’t their fight to put a damper on the upcoming celebrations either. He sent out emailed invitations, asking everyone to meet up on Saturday. He invited Murasakibara too, but predicted that he wouldn’t want to do that long train journey again, and he didn’t think he’d really done anything wrong to begin with, so asked him if he wanted to join via skype. Makoto had pointed out that Muraskibara not saying anything in his defence during the fight wasn’t that much better than what the others had done, but Seijuro explained that Murasakibara had an unusual nature that he knew well and he was sure that there was no problem there. Makoto trusted him so didn’t question it further, although he still kept his own internal reservations.

Makoto knocked on Seijuro’s door, arriving an hour early as planned. He was let in and informed that Seijuro was in his room. He’d already been there several times, so he knew the way.

Seijuro’s face lit up when he saw Makoto, getting up off his chair and walking to him to pull him into a hug. “Thank you for this.”

“It’s fine. You don’t need to thank me.”

“I know, but I really appreciate it.”

Makoto thought the plan made sense, meeting them was going to be the only way to change their minds about him. Seijuro was still a lot more hesitant though. Makoto figured if there was another fight it would put him in an extremely uncomfortable situation. Hopefully, his friends would get the sticks out of their asses long enough to see that Makoto was more than just a knee breaker.

They spent their hour just relaxing together, trying to keep Seijuro’s bubbling anxiety as low as possible while preparing for whatever storm was about to come.

~ * ~

The rest of generation of miracles appeared all at once, coming together to the front door and led to Seijuro’s bedroom. The atmosphere turned tense the moment they entered the room and spotted Makoto, lounging comfortably on one of the two sofa’s in Seijuro’s room. Despite his best efforts to convince himself not to do it, he could feel himself getting defensive already. He had to try though. He wanted Seijuro’s friends to, at the very least, think he was okay.

“Good afternoon.” He greeted them after the introductions, noticing that Seijuro looked defensive too as he sat next to him. The others hesitated a second before Aomine, Kise, and Midorima took the other sofa. Momoi and Kuroko took the two spare chairs they’d brought up and Murasakibara started calling on skype via the laptop on the table.

Once the call was connected and everyone was comfortable, the room fell awkwardly silent.

“We’re really sorry for what we did before, Akashi-cchi. Thank you for giving us a second chance.” Kise started, looking at the others, who nodded.

Akashi nodded as well, and Makoto wondered if he should say something. The room had become stiflingly awkward and he was fighting so hard not to say the wrong thing or look too uncomfortable. Seijuro looked even more uncomfortable and anxious next to him, and Makoto wanted nothing more than to reach and put his arm around him. He wasn’t sure how well that would go down though. Part of him wanted to do it because fuck what those assholes thought, Seijuro was more important, but the other part worried that it might make Seijuro more anxious and it wouldn’t go down well if he gave Seijuro a panic attack or got rejected by him within minutes of their arrival.

“So… I hear you like sweets.” Makoto started, already cringing at his awkward attempt at conversation as he looked at the giant purple one on screen. He’d been trying to think of anything he might have in common with them, other than basketball.

There was a soft breathy sound next to him that Makoto recognised as Seijuro trying to stifle a laugh. Well, at least something good had come from that miserable conversation starter. Makoto’s confidence grew at Seijuro’s reaction.

“Murasakibara enjoyed the chocolate I sent him.” Seijuro spoke, looking at Makoto.

“The 100%?” Makoto queried, internally pleased.

“Mhm.” Seijuro nodded. “I told him what you said about not chewing.”

“It was hard not to chew but it was nice…” Murasakibara spoke up.

“It’s Makoto’s favourite chocolate. I bought it when I was with him.” Seijuro explained, looking at Murasakibara now.

“I’m glad you like it. Most don’t.” Makoto was now feeling quite glad that he’d started talking about sweets. It had led to an actual conversation and got someone talking.

“Is it really that weird?” Kise asked, looking curious.

“It’s definitely an acquired taste. It can be really bitter if you eat it wrong.” Makoto explained.

“How do you eat chocolate wrong?” Aomine asked, with a confused frown.

“By chewing it. You don’t chew 100% dark chocolate, you let it melt on your tongue.”

Aomine’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t think you’d be a snob.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow. “Do you eat soup with a knife? No, because that’s not how soup’s supposed to be eaten and you wouldn’t get the best of it. 100% dark chocolate has to be eaten slowly or it will taste horrible and will be a waste, unless you like extremely bitter things. That’s not being a snob, it’s just eating it properly.”

Seijuro tensed slightly next to him, and he realised he’d gotten defensive. Aomine had been trying to insult him though. Seijuro had told him Aomine had been the worst during the fight, so Makoto had tried to prepare himself for it but he’d still snapped without thinking.

“Perhaps you could buy some one day and try it, Aomine.” Seijuro spoke. His voice was calm, but his eyes held a challenge.

The atmosphere had gone a little frosty and Makoto wasn’t sure how to fix it. He was beginning to realise the chances of him not being defensive were very slim. These people hated him enough to tell Seijuro not to date him. It was almost made him want to spite them and not bother wasting his time on them, but Seijuro wouldn’t want that. He’d have to play nicely for Seijuro’s sake. He looked around as he tried to think of something to say and locked eyes with Kuroko, who was giving him a very cold look. Ah. That was a situation he needed to avoid for now. He wasn’t sure anything would change that one’s mind after what he did to Kiyoshi.

“So, how did you meet?” Kise asked, apparently trying to lighten the atmosphere with a glaringly bright smile.

Makoto resisted the urge to look at Seijuro. They’d already talked about this. They weren’t going to mention therapy, so they’re alternative was-

“Book store.” Makoto replied. “We were looking in sections next to each other and ended up talking.”

“Oh!” Kise looked surprised. “So you like reading.”

“What kind of books do you read?” Midorima chimed in, for the first time.

“I read a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and biographies, but I’ll give most things a try.”

“I can’t imagine you reading flowery romance fiction.” Aomine commented under his breath.

“Yes. Obviously, I have absolutely zero interest in romance.” Makoto deadpanned, staring Aomine down and making him go quiet.

Seijuro sent Makoto a look. It was softer than a warning look, but it still told him to be careful. Aomine received a harsher look – Seijuro hadn’t forgiven him for what he’d said before.

Momoi giggled softly, causing everyone to look at her. “You can get Dai-chan to stop talking so quickly when he’s being annoying. I like you already.”

Makoto was surprised for a moment before he laughed his softer laugh. “Well, that’s something.” Someone liked him then. That was a good start.

“Have you been to visit Akashi-kun in Kyoto?” Momoi asked, smiling brightly at both of them.

“Not yet, I’m planning to visit soon though. So far, Seijuro’s mostly visited me.”

“Hey, wait!” Kise exclaimed, grabbing everyone’s attention and filling Makoto with temporary alarm. “When you came for the Rakuzan-Kaijo practice match and you said you were staying to visit your father, was that true?” Kise was looking at Seijuro.

Makoto didn’t hide his smug face as Seijuro shook his head. “Not strictly. I went to visit Makoto, although I did stay the night in my father’s home.”

“How long have you been together?” Kuroko asked. While Seijuro was mostly worried about Aomine, Makoto was mostly worried about Kuroko. He’d really fucked his team over and he wasn’t sure if Kuroko would be able to look past that.

“About three months.” Seijuro replied. Makoto watched as everyone looked surprised. It was about three months since they were official, but they’d known each other a lot longer.

“Wow, you’re pretty serious then.” Kise commented.

Makoto started stretching his wrist, a little embarrassed but hiding it, as Seijuro looked more visibly embarrassed.

Momoi asked some more questions and Seijuro talked to her about how it had all started (with fake details about books and omitting major parts of their one-on-one and home visits) for a few minutes while Midorima struck up a conversation with Makoto about novels. Kise seemed to flit between the two conversations, Murasakibara was happily eating and got distracted by someone at his door for a while, Kuroko listened to Seijuro and Momoi, and Aomine watched Makoto carefully.

Eventually, Makoto couldn’t take Aomine’s staring any longer. Everyone else seemed to have settled and genuinely be giving Makoto a chance. Aomine, however, seemed to be waiting for Makoto to mess up. He’d been doing his best not to let it get to him before, but he wasn’t going to sit by and say nothing about it any longer. Clearly Aomine wasn’t going to make the effort to get to know him and hadn’t taken any of the chances offered to him to engage in any conversation, so Makoto needed to do something. If they were going to fix this, he needed to bite the bullet and face Aomine head on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~!  
> I've really enjoyed writing this fic and you've all been so encouraging, so I've started writing a sequel!


	22. Seijuro XII

“You really don’t like me, do you?” The defensiveness in Makoto’s voice caught Seijuro’s attention and he turned to see Makoto and Aomine staring at each other intensely. This wasn’t good. Everyone else went silent and turned toward Makoto and Aomine too.

“I don’t trust you.” Aomine replied. Seijuro felt a flare of protectiveness and considered intervening but decided against it. It was probably best to let Makoto handle this. Aomine wasn’t going to trust Makoto if Seijuro kept talking for him. Seijuro needed to trust him to keep calm and save the situation himself. He knew Makoto could do it.

“I’m not going to hurt Seijuro. I’m not what you think I am.” Makoto replied calmly but bluntly.

“Prove it.” Aomine challenged.

“I’m trying to, but you won’t get to know me and see I’m telling the truth if you just sit there staring at me. You need to talk to me.”

Aomine opened his mouth, looking ready to come out with some aggressive response, when Seijuro decided he would interrupt after all, but only to give them a little nudge in a helpful direction.  

“Aomine.” Seijuro’s voice caught both their attentions. “Makoto likes video games too, perhaps you could discuss some.” It sounded like Makoto was willing to talk to Aomine and get to know each other, so perhaps a shared interest could be the way forward.

Aomine looked hesitant at first but soon caved under everyone’s stares and asked what games Makoto played. Seijuro kept an ear on their conversation while returning to his own discussion with Momoi. After 20 minutes of talking over various old and new games, Aomine appeared to have relaxed somewhat. He’d only really started to relax when Makoto had talked about him and his friends teaching Seijuro to play the dungeon crawler. Something about that situation appeared to have changed Aomine’s mind a little. Seijuro was fond of that memory, so he was pleased it was helping with this. Aomine still sounded like he didn’t fully trust Makoto, but he was a lot less hostile than before. It was some progress.

They ended up chatting as group for a long time after that. Makoto didn’t relax the entire time but Seijuro thought he was the only one who would be able to tell. Makoto was being extra nice and it seemed to be going down well. The two had held back on their usual playful bickering, not wanting it to be misunderstood and give their relationship a bad image. They wanted everyone to see the good sides of Makoto first, so they wouldn’t twist his teasing words the wrong way when he finally showed them that.

About an hour into their chat, now about the most fun science experiments to do in class, Makoto’s phone rang and he left the room to answer it. Makoto was great at chemistry and had been telling them about some of the more explosive experiments he’d been allowed to do due to his skill. The call interrupted the conversation but Seijuro saw the caller ID said Home and he knew Makoto wouldn’t ignore it. Makoto stood and excused himself. He sent Seijuro an apologetic look, which Seijuro just smiled at. No doubt Makoto knew, just as Seijuro did, that the others were going to pounce on him with opinions about Makoto as soon as he’d left the room. They all heard Makoto say “Hi mum” before he shut the door.

Everyone looked at Seijuro.

“Well?” Seijuro asked, prepared to hear their verdict.  

“We’re really sorry for what we did before.” Kise spoke up. “We should have let you tell us about Hanamiya-cchi without interrupting you. He’s very different from what we expected and… we’re all going to support you, right?” Kise looked around and the others nodded their agreement.

“We’re also sorry about not giving you the right support before.” Midorima added. “You were right; we knew you weren’t well but we didn’t do anything when we should have. We let you down and we hope you can give us another chance to support you more in the future.”

“We’re here whenever you need us, we all promise.” Momoi added.

They all looked to Aomine. “He has shitty taste in games… but he’s alright, I guess.”

“You seemed quite happy when you were talking about that game you play all the time…” Momoi frowned. Seijuro had heard it too. They’d definitely been getting along talking about the same games.

“Fine, fine, his taste isn’t that bad. I’m sorry for before. You don’t mind if I kick his virtual ass in game though, right?”

“You may try but I doubt the chances of your success.” Seijuro replied, feeling better. They all seemed to be genuinely giving Makoto a chance and getting to know him and, so far, it was going well. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Now he just needed to make sure Makoto knew that too. Hopefully, the phone call wouldn’t be too long or anything too important, and Makoto would be able to stay and enjoy the rest of the day with everyone.

The door opened and Makoto walked half way in before pausing, hand still on the door handle. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Heartfelt apologies and challenges to your gaming ability.” Seijuro replied. Apparently the intimate atmosphere from moments before must have still been noticeable.

“Oh, should I wait outside a bit longer?”

“No.” Seijuro wanted Makoto back. He wasn’t comfortable with all this attention on his emotions and mental health. He knew he ought to talk to them about it properly at some point, but he didn’t want right now to be that time. “Is everything okay with your mother?”

“Yeah, she just wanted to know what time I’d be back and where some stuff was.” Makoto replied, shutting the door and walking to re-join them.

“We owe you an apology too.” Kise said, looking at Makoto, who paused again and looked surprised.

“What?”

“We said some terrible things about you and we shouldn’t have-“

“Nah.” Makoto waved off the rest of Kise’s sentence. “I know I’ve been an asshole to some of you and my reputation isn’t great. I don’t care what people say about me. Seijuro’s the one you need to apologise to.”

“But still-“

Makoto flopped into the sofa next to Seijuro with a grimace and a displeased groan. Seijuro took that to mean Makoto wasn’t feeling up for heartfelt apologies in relation himself and he should save him. Makoto stretched and put his arm along the back of the sofa near Seijuro’s shoulders. It was a bit more publicly affectionate and cheesy than Seijuro was expecting but he was pleased by it.  

“Makoto isn’t always comfortable with, how do you usually put it? ‘Sappy shit’” Seijuro explained, a small amused smile on his lips. The others looked surprised by the language. Now that the others had given their approval of Makoto, Seijuro felt comfortable showing their playfulness.

Makoto wrinkled his nose. “That’s just because you’re made of sap.” It seemed Makoto understood that things were good and he could tease in return now.

“Would that not make me a tree?” Seijuro asked, only partially hiding his amusement. The others watched the banter with curiosity.

“Nah, you’re too short for that.” Makoto replied bluntly. Some of them looked shocked while Makoto looked smug. None of them could get away with what Makoto did.

“You are only 6cm taller than me.” Seijuro replied.

“True, but I never claimed to be a tree. Plus, I am _still_ taller than you, short stuff.”

“Makoto…” Seijuro warned playfully. The teasing had backfired on him slightly but it still had its most important effect. Makoto had relaxed. He grinned at Seijuro and started laughing. The atmosphere settled into one of warmth and friendship, and they both knew it was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday (soon) to Makoto~ Thank you for reading and for the lovely comments last week.  
> We’re nearly at the end! There is one last chapter to come in this fic but there will be a sequel. All of your feedback has been so heartwarming.   
> If you've enjoyed this fic, you may also like my fic "Runaway", which is full of angst and heavily focused on Seijuro's mental health after the winter cup.


	23. Epilogue

Three months later, Seijuro was curled up against Makoto’s chest on his Rakuzan bed. They hadn’t seen each other in person for a month and they’d missed each other greatly. As soon as they were together again, they’d rushed to Seijuro’s room to relax, cuddle, and share soft, sweet kisses. Neither intended to move until they absolutely had to.

Makoto got along a lot better with Seijuro’s Teiko friends since their sit-down and they were now fairly good acquaintances. It wasn’t perfect but it was better and they still had all the time in the world to get even closer. Aomine really had challenged Makoto at some video games and lost, but they’d started getting on well after. The only one that was still hesitant was Kuroko. Kuroko and Makoto were polite to each other but definitely couldn’t be called friends. It upset Seijuro still but Makoto could understand it. He wouldn’t be quick to warm up to someone that had seriously injured one of his friends either. Being polite acquaintances was acceptable.

Makoto got on really well with Seijuro’s Rakuzan friends though, as did the rest of Kirisaki Daiichi. They'd all become friends easily. Seijuro still hadn’t told his father about Makoto and he didn’t plan on doing it any time soon but he knew one day, once he was older and settled on his own feet, he would.

Makoto ran his fingers through Seijuro’s hair, enjoying the way he relaxed against him. He looked so beautiful like this, warm and content, snuggled up to him. Being with Seijuro like this relaxed him too and the words came out before he could think them through. “I love you.”

Seijuro’s eyes opened and he lifted his head to look up at him, his expression warm and a little awed. 

Makoto had come a long way in expressing his emotions, mostly just around Seijuro, but this was the first time he’d confessed that. He held in his nerves as he waited for Seijuro to respond.

“You know I’m never going to let you forget that you said it first, right?” Seijuro teased. Makoto had never let Seijuro forget he said ‘boyfriend’ first, so he shouldn’t expect anything less in return for being the first to say this.

“Shut up. I couldn’t help it. You looked-“ Makoto replied, before being cut off by Seijuro with a smug smile.

“Breath-taking?” Seijuro interrupted. This wasn’t the first time Makoto had gotten distracted by how nice Seijuro looked when cuddled up to him. He’d said a few embarrassing things in recent months whenever that happened.

“Sei…” Makoto playfully warned, although his stern look evaporated when Seijuro started laughing softly.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much reading all of this! I have absolutely loved writing it and hearing what you think of it. I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. I really really appreciate everyone who read this, especially if you left kudos or comments. I'm sad to finish this even though there is a sequel. I really hope you’ll stick around to read the sequel too and/or my next fic, [Runaway](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5806951).  
> The sequel is called Glass Doors and can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6517021/chapters/14911762).


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